The End
by awesomeannie
Summary: Malachite still can't be found. However, because of her instability, and Lapis' loss of strength, she unfuses. The vengeful and angry Jasper escapes and is coming for her enemies. The crystal gems have to find a way to defeat this homeworld gem before anyone gets hurt. Laughs and pain will be shared in this adventure that will end this fight between good and bad.
1. Chapter 1

"Steven! Look out!" Connie yelled. She quickly lifted her sword to defend herself and her friend from the enemy. She swung as hard as she could as Holo-Pearl was about to attack. Naturally, she poofed away.

"Nice one!" Steven complimented, as he hit another Holo-Pearl with his pink shield, making the hologram disappear. "Jam buds forever! HIIIIIYAAA!" At this, Connie laughed and whooped along with him.

Real Pearl was watching the fighting from the side, nodding in approval at both Connie and Steven's improvement. These two make a terrific team, and they always amazed her. They even reminded the gem of her and Rose sometimes. Always looking out for each other. Out in the battle scene, Connie continued to slash through the holograms as Steven stayed by her side. One, to protect her if needed, and two, he still wasn't as good at swordfighting as she was. He needed her just as much.

Finally, there were only 2 Holo-Pearls left. Steven smiled at Connie, as she smiled back. They had this. Together they gave a determined warrior cry and attacked. "HIIIIIIIIYAAAAAHHH!" Instantly, both holograms poofed and the battle training was over. The two friends smiled at each other while wiping sweat off of their brows.

"Very nice work you two!" Congratulated Pearl, "But was was with the yelling?"

"It makes the moment more interesting." Explained Steven.

"I see. Well I suppose that's enough practice for today! Next time, you two are going to work on different techniques like mid air dueling exercises!" Pearl said as she lead them back out of the training arena.

"...Mid air dueling?" Connie whispered to Steven. Steven shrugged his shoulders as they stepped on the warp pad. A light engulfed the three of them and seconds later they arrived back at home in Beach City. "We're back!" called Steven into the living room.

"Hey dudes!" Amethyst called, bouncing a bouncy ball she found off the wall.

Garnet, dripping wet, with goggles on and a towel around her neck looked at them. "How was practice?" She asked in her usual monotone voice, drying herself off.

"Good. They're becoming true warriors!" Replied Pearl, ruffling Stevens hair. "Any sign of Malachite yet?"

"Nope." Garnet sighed. "I don't know where else to look."

"Well, they could be anywhere! Not to mention that they could unfuse any minute! Ugh! Why don't we just wait for Jasper to come to us, and then we'll kick her butt!" Amethyst said, putting down her bouncy ball.

"Amethyst! You know we can't do that! If they do unfuse, there's no telling what Jasper will do! She could hurt innocent people! Or she could meet up with Peridot and continue work at the Kindergarten…" Amethyst looked away, and all the gems shared a moment of silence, remembering the negative things that had happened there. Connie looked at Steven uncertainly, not fully understanding the reason for their pause.

"Well, if you're looking for someone who doesn't want to be found, why don't you try looking in unusual places rather than usual places?" suggested Connie. Although Amethyst just huffed, "Yeah sure. Like that'll work!"

Steven put a hand on his friends shoulder, "Wait, she might be on to something. I remember in my dream Lapis said she's using the weight of our earth's ocean to keep them trapped!" Pearl raised an eyebrow, "So…? How does that help us track them down?"

The young buy though for a second, "Well… wouldn't there be some change in the ocean? You know, a vortex or something?" Pearl tapped her chin thinking. "I don't think so, but the pressure in the area they're hidden could be drastically different than before. Maybe if i could get my hands on a test gauge, compare it to the original… I don't know. There's no promise that would work either."

"We have to try." Garnet insisted with determination. "Constantly swimming around in the ocean isn't going to find them any faster. This plan could work" The tall gem looked down at the two friends, "Good thinking you two. You may have just made our job a little easier. You guys are a big help to the team." Garnet finished with a small smile.

Connie gave a huge grin before realizing the time. "Oh gosh! I told my mom I'd be home soon!"

"I'll ask my dad if he can give you a ride home, or we can try Lion?" Steven suggested, knowing his animal sidekick was somewhere doing… whatever Lion does.

"Uh, let's go with your dad. If we go with Lion he might take us to another gem place instead." Steven scratched the back of his head and gave a small laugh. "Yeah… He sort of does his own thing most of time."

Amethyst scoffed, "More like all the time."

"Hey! At least I taught him to do some stuff! I finally taught him that he's not allowed on my bed!"

"Oh yeah?" The purple gem pointed up to Steven's room, where Lion was sleeping on Steven's bed the whole time.

"What?! Li-on!" Steven yelled in exasperation. He ran up the stairs and started tugging on Lion's mane to wake him up. "What did I tell you? Steven's bed is off-limits!" Lion looked up only to huff in Steven's face, then went back to sleep.

"Uh Steven? My curfew?" His friend called.

"Oh, sorry Connie! I'll deal with this later." He walked back down the stairs and headed to the door. "Let's go. See you guys later!" He called to the gems as he left with Connie.

"Do you think they're both ready to fight?" Garnet asked Pearl.

"Well I suppose so. Both their abilities are getting better and better. Why?"

Garnet looked down to the ground and made her goggles vanish, still leaving her usual shades. "Because when we find Malachite, we're going to need all the help we can get."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ocean…_

Lapis took a deep breath in. _"Concentrate."_ She thought. She had to fight every second to stay fused, and keep them both trapped.

"You don't really think you can win, right? Because if you do, that would be _pathetic_." The scratchy voice said.

Lapis ignored her. She continued to build up her strength and motivation. Which would be easier except Jasper kept fighting back.

"You're getting weaker aren't you? I can feel it. Each day, you're strength continues to drain. Tell me, why do you keep fighting? You do realize you can't hold us down forever."

The blue gem again ignored her. _"For Steven."_ Lapis thought back to before. Although it was miserable being trapped in the mirror, spending that one day with Steven was one of best days she's ever had. Steven even healed her gem. Steven is so compassionate that he freed her, despite his consequences with the gems. She just felt awful she now made him face consequences with homeworld gems.

Lapis accidentally let her mind wander too much, for Jasper took that moment to try and escape. Lapis could feel Malachites body waver as their chances of unfusing felt all too real. The blue gem quickly pushed back with all she had to keep them together. With a frustrated grunt from Jasper, their fusion stabilized once more. However, more of Lapis' strength was compromised.

Jasper let out a mischievous laugh. "Don't think you'll win. I'll get out of here eventually. And don't think I'm going to go easy on you when I do." Jaspers laughing continued as Lapis continued to ignore her, faith not shaken. _"For Steven."_


	2. Chapter 2

The bell on the door dinged as Steven walked into The Big Donut that morning. Lars and Sadie looked up from their usual spot at the counter. Sadie had her usual smile on her face, while Lars rolled his eyes at the boy.

"Hey Steven! What can I get ya?" asked Sadie.

"The usual please!" Steven said cheerfully, handing her money. Lars scoffed at his positive attitude.

"So Steven, what's your plans with the gems today?" asked Sadie.

"Well, Pearl's working on a way to find a gem fusion at the bottom of the ocean, with some kinda water pressure thingy… It's kinda complicated."

"Pssh! Does anyone hear that? It's the sound of nobody caring!" said Lars, clearly not a morning person and not interested in the topic of conversation. "Why are you helping the gems anyway?"

"I already told you! They help save the world! And now I'm helping them!" explained Steven.

"Really? What have you done so far to help? Sit quietly in the back? Tell stupid jokes?"

Sadie looked shocked at Lars, "Lay off Lars!"

However Steven was still unfazed, "Well I can't do a lot yet, but I can use my bubble, my shield, my healing powers. And guess who's the only guy in the group who can do that? THIS GUY!"

Lars gave another eye roll, "uh huh, sure."

"Stop being so mean." said Sadie as she handed Steven his order. "Good luck with, well, whatever you're doing today!"

"Thanks Sadie! Later Lars!" called Steven as he left the shop. Steven walked home with a spring in his step. This could be a good day! Maybe they'll find Lapis soon! Of course, they'll have to take care of Jasper first when they do. But then they can be beach summer fun buddies again! It could be great! Maybe Lapis will become a crystal gem too…

As Steven walked up the steps and into his home, he didn't see the crystal gems anywhere. Odd, they were here when he left. He wasn't gone very long.

"Hey yo! Steven!" called a familiar voice. Steven turned around and saw the gems in a raft, about to head out. "You coming with us?"

Steven put the donuts down and walked out to the shore to meet them. "Hey guys. Pearl, you found a… thingy?"

Pearl held the device out for him to see. "A _manometer,_ Steven. This will help us measure the water pressure in different places. I also have records of the updated and usual measurements of water in some areas so we can detect if we're close to Malachite due to changes in the water pressure. Are you coming with us?"

"Yeah! Let's go find an evil gem fusion! WOOHOO!" Steven yelled as he put on a life jacket. Garnet smirked as she pushed the raft into the water and they started their journey. It wasn't even 5 minutes before Steven asked, "So… how long is this going to take?"

Garnet shrugged, "It might not take that long… or it will."

Steven looked uncertainly at the water. "Will it take as long as is did last time?"

"Probably." replied the stoic gem. Steven sighed and looked at the water again.

"Woah Steven! Check out this fish! It's got 5 eyeballs! And 3 fins!" cried Amethyst. Steven rushed to her side of the raft and leaned over the edge. "Where?" He immediately regretted leaning over the side when he felt a hand push him head first into the water.

"Amethyst!" a very distressed Pearl cried.

"What?" asked the purple gem, not seeing the problem.

Garnet reached into the water and lifted Steven out by his leg. Steven coughed up some sea water before glaring at the one who pushed him. "Amethyst!"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you do that!?" he asked as Garnet set him down.

"Pssh! Because it was funny!" Amethyst casually replied sitting on the edge of the raft. "Chill dude. You'd laugh if it happened to- Whoa!" Amethyst was then pushed backwards into the water by Garnet. Pearl and Steven couldn't contain their laughter as Amethyst swam up to the surface again, spitting out water. "Garnet! Why did you do that!?"

Garnet just shrugged with a smirk of her face. "Because it was funny." This made Steven and Pearl laugh even harder as the purple gem crawled back into the raft then started wringing out her hair, grumbling.

* * *

"25 PSI's. Normal… Maybe a few miles north?" Pearl examined the manometer and directed the next place to look. Steven groaned. "How much longer? We've been out here for hours!"

"We'll be done soon I should think. As long as my calculations are correct." replied Pearl as she scribbled numbers on the notepad she brought with her.

"Ugh, if they weren't correct 5 hours ago, why should we believe they're gonna be correct now?" complained a very bored Amethyst.

Pearl grumbled audibly, "Because, according to this map, we've already tried the eastern and southern region of these parts. If we test these northern and western parts, then we can try testing-"

"NEEEEERRD!"

"Amethyst! I am gonna-" before Pearl could finish her threat, Garnet cut in. "Okay you guys, keep the peace. We'll keep searching a little longer. If we still can't find them before dark, we'll go home."

"Uh Garnet, maybe we could go home sooner?" Steven suggested as he pointed out dark clouds heading their way. The tall gem adjusted her shades and looked at what looked like a bad storm. Amethyst and Pearl joined them.

"Woah. That looks bad." said Amethyst.

"We'll never be able to find them if we have a storm blowing us off-course! We have to head back. This could be dangerous!" pointed out Pearl.

Garnet nodded, "Start paddling gems."

* * *

During the storm, the waves became huge and monstrous, unforgiving to anything above or below the sea. Rain came down hard like lead, and thunder and lightning filled the sky. Malachite laid on the ocean floor, struggling. Lapis found it very difficult to hold them down now. The jostling and uncontrollable waves made it harder to keep them down with the ocean's weight, and Jasper took this moment to her full advantage.

"Stop! I won't let you do this!" Lapis yelled.

Jasper laughed, "Foolish gem! You can't stop me! You're. Too. Weak!"

It was now or never, Lapis used whatever power she had left and tightened the hold on their fusion, pushing more and more water onto them until it was almost suffocating. Despite the raging storm happening above, it looked like Lapis was going to win. Like she had gathered enough strength to actually win.

… but it still wasn't enough.

Jasper fought just as hard to escape her watery prison, and knowing that her captor was already so weak, this was her chance. Fighting as hard as she could, Lapis' powers gave in and they finally unfused.

Swimming to the surface, Lapis realized she needed to get out of here. Now. She summoned wings and tried her best at flying through the storm back to beach city to warn Steven and the other gems. Jasper looked up at the ocean gem getting away. However, instead of being furious, she smirked. _Lapis was leading her right back to them._

She knew she wouldn't get there as fast as Lapis could, she couldn't fly. But no matter. Jasper would soon have her revenge.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! My name is awesomeannie, and sorry I didn't add one of these before. I had written the first couple of chapters of this story and I was so excited to upload them that I forgot to add an authors note! But I just want to say thank you so very much to everyone who had read so far, and those who have already fav/followed this! It means a lot! And with that, chapter 3!**

* * *

Steven woke up that next morning feeling tired and slightly sore. Who knew paddling home could be such hard work? Luckily, they barely missed the storm, however the thunder did keep Steven up that night.

Getting up, Steven changed out of his pajamas and got into his usual yellow-starred, red t-shirt, and jeans. As he turned on his phone to check any messages he might've missed the previous night, Amethyst walked in, yawning.

"Mornin' bro." she greeted, grabbing a bag of chips from the kitchen. She started eating them by the handful until the bag was empty. Then she laid upside down on the couch, wondering how to spend the rest of her day. Probably sleeping some more.

Searching for any notifications he missed on his phone and seeing none, he sat up and started heading for the door. "I'm going to make a breakfast run. You want anything?"

"Nah… Wait! Actually can you get me two chocolate jelly donuts?"

Steven rolled his eyes and laughed slightly. Only Amethyst would still want two donuts after eating a full bag of chips. "Sure. Be back soon!"

"Later dude."

Steven started singing to himself as he made his way down to the beach. _Gonna get me some donuts, for me and my bud. Chocolate jellies and Bear claws and stuff…_ Steven stopped in his tracks when he heard something… strange. It sounded almost like someone, calling his name? They sounded so distressed though. But the beach was empty. Who could've made that sound? What could've made that sound?

He was about to ignore it and keep walking, thinking it was just hes imagination, but he heard it again. This time louder. It didn't sound like anywhere close though. Steven looked around him, and still saw nothing. Then he looked up. He saw this blue thing flying in the sky. A bird probably? But blue birds weren't common in Beach City, only seagulls were, and that wouldn't explain why it was saying his name. Steven squinted against the sun, trying see what it actually was. As it was getting closer, and closer, he finally realized who it was.

"Lapis? Lapis!" Steven called to her. When she was close enough to the ground, her wings disappeared and she collapsed onto the sand.

"Lapis! Are you okay? What happened?" Concern was written all over the young gems face. Lapis was panting heavily, bags under her eyes, muscles trembling. She looked terrible. Steven couldn't help but feel so sorry for her. "S-Steven. S-She's on her way. You've got to get out of here! I-I don't know when, but she'll get here! I tried so hard to keep her trapped… but I couldn't. I'm so sorry..." Lapis barely managed to get out before she completely blacked out, falling unconscious on the shore.

"Lapis? Lapis! No…" Steven started shaking her shoulder. He didn't know how else to help her. He started to cry. "Garnet! Amethyst! Pearl! Come quick! Help!" He heard the sound of the temple door opening, and the three gems ran out onto the house balcony moments later. Pearl gasped at what she was seeing. "Steven!" she cried.

"C'mon!" Garnet lead the team down to where Steven was with Lapis. "What happened?" She asked with a slight panicked tone.

Steven sniffled. "I was on my way to the Big Donut then I saw Lapis, then she said something about Jasper coming and that she couldn't keep them trapped and then she just… passed out! We've got to help her!"

Garnet knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay Steven. We'll take care of her. When she wakes up, we'll get the full story from her." Steven nodded and the tall gem turned her focus to the ocean gem laying on the beach. Pearl came up behind her

"She must be exhausted. She did just keep an unstable gem fusion trapped at the bottom of the ocean for a couple of months." said Pearl.

"Yeah, not to mention before that she was trapped in space jail and before that she was also trapped in a mirror with a broken gem for thousands of years… She hasn't had an easy life." added Amethyst.

Garnet stood up to her full height. "Let's get her inside. She needs rest." The other gems nodded as they helped get the exhausted and beaten down blue gem inside.

* * *

Jasper made it to the beach at sundown that same day. However, she wasn't planning on attacking… yet. She didn't have any weapons on her besides her gem activated helmet, and she couldn't go up against them alone. She needed an army… Jasper looked up into the darkening sky, and started activating her gem. When it built up enough power, it shot a silent but big light into the sky. A flare. " _Soon_ ," she thought. She noticed Steven's house off to her right. Someone was coming out. Not wanting to be seen, she hid behind a large rock.

The Rose Quartz boy walked out and looked around. Obviously wondering what that light was. After shrugging it off, and saying something she couldn't hear, he went back inside with those other _traitors._

She heard someone approach her from behind. "What took you so long, Peridot?"

The green gem huffed, "Well excuse me if traveling by helicopter fingers is more difficult than it looks." She made her point by spinning her fingers. "So, you were able to escape huh?"

Jasper grunted. "I'm surprised the little runt had me trapped for as long as she did. But she still wasn't strong enough. None of them are. We can take them down easily."

Peridot rolled her eyes. "And how do you expect we do that? We have nothing except our gem weapons! and they out number us anyway!"

Jasper looked at her with a gleam in her eyes. "Did you do what you were told to do?"

"You mean at the Kindergarten? Affirmative. However the… Crystal Gems destroyed most of them."

"Are there any left?"

"No. However, there are still plenty of broken gem shards we can use for the job. I'm sure there are more in the gem battlefield. I've even figured out how to make them bigger and more powerful. It may take a little longer though."

Jasper nodded her head. "Perfect. Whatever it takes." She looked up at the house again. "Very soon, we'll be able to take over the Earth again. Finish the job. Wipe out this miserable planet of humans forever!" She let out a bone-chilling laugh. She turned to Peridot. "Now, let's go back to the Kindergarten, shall we?"

* * *

Steven looked at Lapis with concern. He hasn't seen her in person for the longest time. Now, that she's here, well, seeing her in the state of weakness unnerved him. She had been out like a light all day. It was like regeneration. No one knew when she was going to wake up.

Steven's attention was turned away from his thoughts when he saw a quick, bright light flash outside. Overcome with curiosity, he had to go out to see what was up. Stepping out onto the balcony, the sea breeze blew in his face, making him shiver slightly. It was getting colder with each minute of daylight gone, succumbing to the darkness of night. Steven looked hard into the fading sky. Some stars could be seen, but mostly the medium blue sky was all there was. The boy shrugged. "Must've been a comet or something." he said to himself. After convincing himself there was nothing to worry about, he walked back inside. Only to see Lapis stir, and slowly start waking up. He immediately rushed back to her side. "Lapis? Can you hear me?"

"ugh… Steven?" She said, slowly opening her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: I'll see you guys in the next chapter! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions don't be afraid to click that review box! :) See ya on the flip side!**


	4. Chapter 4

Lapis was wrapped in a blanket, sitting up, looking down at the floor. The other gems were sitting around her in chairs. They were all silent, soaking in all the new information that has been supplied by the blue gem. Jasper was out there somewhere, they just didn't know where, or when she'll come back.

"I feel awful… I could've kept her trapped just a little longer. But I failed…" Lapis sounded so broken, Steven couldn't take it. "You didn't fail. You've kept Jasper in the ocean for months! It must've taken a lot of strength just to keep her under water for days. You saved our lives that day we were captured. You're amazing." Lapis gave him a sad smile.

"He's right," said Garnet. "What you did for us was a real courageous thing. You chose our side. We thank you for it." Even though Lapis was proud of her decision she made when fusing with Jasper, she did it for Steven. Not those Crystal Gems. Her anger towards them was still there, even after everything that's happened. The three gems seemed to pick up on her tenseness.

"Listen, Lapis... We're sorry. Steven was right. It was wrong to keep you trapped in a mirror for over thousands of years. But we didn't know if you could be trusted. We didn't even know you were working properly because of your cracked gem. We thought you might have been corrupted or dangerous. But the point is, we should've been a little more considerate."

Lapis gave a more genuine smile this time. "Thank you." She felt the anger she once had for these gems begin melt away, as she finally got the closure she wanted. However, she knew it take a bit more time to fully forgive them. They actually apologized, and had taken care of her for this one short day. It's a start. Steven looked at the scene in front of him. He was so glad he had let that gem out of the mirror in the first place.

"So… What are we going to do about Jasper?" asked Steven.

Garnet leaned back in her chair, massaging her temple. "I don't know if there's anything we can do other than be prepared."

"But be prepared for what though?" questioned Pearl.

"Well, maybe we don't have to worry that much. The worse she could do is come back with Peridot right? I mean, the ship's gone, and there are no remaining, high tech weapons. We could be okay?" suggested Lapis.

"It's more complicated than that." Garnet said, looking away.

"What do you mean?" the blue gem asked.

The four others looked at each other, silently asking someone else to explain what was going on. Pearl took a deep breath. "Well… back in the Kindergarten, we found Peridot's been doing… more bad things." Lapis sat completely still, anticipating the explanation of these "bad things. Pearl continued, "They found the broken gem shards from the first gem war. They re-hatched them as forced fusions. These, unnatural creatures made out of our fallen comrades. It's sick, really." Pearl looked down, unsure how to explain anything else. Lapis was in such a shock, she almost felt sick to her stomach. Garnet also looked unnerved, remembering her first encounter with these monsters.

"No, that isn't right! That's not how fusion works!" Said Lapis, still very shaken about this news.

"No it's not." Garnet said sternly. "What they're doing is _wrong._ And It's a good thing we stopped it when we did."

"So, there's no way they can try fusing damaged gems again?" Lapis tentatively asked.

There was another moment of silence. Amethyst gave a nervous laugh, "Of course they can't! We poofed all the ones they had! We had bubbled all the extra shards lying around in the Kindergarten. We'll be fine! Right?"

Pearl cleared her throat anxiously. "Right!"

Garnet shrugged her shoulders. "Sure."

Another silence fell over them. Steven turned to Lapis, "Are you going to go back to homeworld again?" Lapis took a deep breath in. She never really thought about it before. But now she realized she didn't need to. "No. My home, isn't my home anymore. It's just too… different there now. I think I'd like to give Earth a try. Make it my new home." She gave a smirk and ruffled Steven's hair, making him laugh. "Beach summer fun buddies?" she asked.

Steven beamed, "Beach summer fun buddies." He agreed. A resolved and content feeling fell over the group, then Steven got a great idea. "Oh! Oh! I know! We should haaaave… A slumber party!"

"Again?" asked Pearl.

"Slumber… party?" questioned Lapis.

"YE-YAH! I love sleep! Almost as much as I love food!" laughed Amethyst.

"C'mon! It'll be fun. You know we can do more at slumber parties than just sleep!" said Steven, excited about his fun idea. This could be a great bonding experience!

"But isn't it just supposed to be about sleeping? Its called a _slumber_ party!" said Pearl, already disliking the idea of another sleeping experience. She still couldn't get over the concept of dreams...

The young boy shook his head. "Yeah but you can do stuff before the _slumber_ to make it a _PARTY!_ "

"Liiiiike what?" asked Amethyst.

"Are these normal human concepts? Cause I still have no idea what he's talking about." asked Lapis.

"You get used to it." replied Garnet with a slight smirk.

Steven gave a pointed look to the tall gem. "I'm serious! This could be awesome! We could eat snacks, tell scary stories, play games…"

"Sounds good to me!" said Amethyst "Pearl?"

"As long as we don't play games as complicated as Kitchen Calamity, I'm all in." said Pearl with a smile.

"WOOHOO! Garnet?" Steven pleaded, looking up at her with adorable eyes. The stoic gem gave a small laugh. "You know I can't say no to that face."

"YES! Lapis? You going to join us?" Lapis looked uncertainly at the group, then back at Steven. "Oh, I don't know. I'm not really comfortable with these human ideas and what not. I'm still not sure I understand what exactly we're doing."

Steven shrugged. "You don't have to understand to have fun!" Lapis still looked like she was going to back out. "Aww c'mon! Don't be a party pooper!" yelled Amethyst.

Pearl stepped in, "You know I wasn't comfortable with Steven's ideas of fun- especially with the birthday parties- but you'll find that some of his rituals really are fun. You're always welcome."

Garnet gave a nod. "Join us."

Lapis gave a small smile, although she had her doubts about this, she still gave in. "Okay, fine." Earning several cheers from Steven and Amethyst.

* * *

"-And they say, in the dead of night, you can still hear the ghost of the sea captain moaning, ' _WhEeEeRe iS mY rUuUuStY HoOk?! OoOooOOohhh!_ " Amethyst finished her story dramatically as Steven clutched onto Pearl's arm... a little too hard.

"Steven, that story didn't scare you, did it?" asked Pearl.

".. _no_ …" whimpered Steven. "I-I'm not scared of anything!" he added, trying to sound brave.

"BOO!" Amethyst jumped out at Steven from behind while he wasn't paying attention.

"AHHH!" Steven cried as he jumped into Pearl's arms. Amethyst was rolling on the floor laughing, and Lapis started to chuckle. Which then escalated into full out, gut busting laughter. The hardest she laughed in a long time. Even Garnet and Pearl laughed a little. However, poor little Steven was not amused.

* * *

"Haha okay okay! Uh, Garnet, Truth or Dare?" Steven asked with a gleam in his eye.

"... Dare."

"Yes! I dare you-"

"I'm not unfusing Steven."

"Dang it!" Steven yelled crossing his arms.

"Wait- What? What do you mean unfusing?" asked Lapis.

"Oh that's right! You don't know!" said Pearl.

"Don't know what?" Lapis questioned, still very confused.

"Garnet's a fuuuuusion." Steven said in a dramatic stage whisper.

"Woah really!? That actually explains a lot!" said the blue gem, bewildered.

"I'm just that _awesome_." Garnet replied.

* * *

"What'd you think of your first slumber party?" Steven asked Lapis before they went to bed.

"I… I loved it. I'll admit some of the games didn't make sense to me, but I still had fun." She replied honestly.

"Well I'm glad!" Steven smiled happily. "Now its time for bed! Good night!"

"Good night!" repeated Pearl.

"Night." sounded Garnet.

"Good night." said Lapis quietly.

"Don't let the evil sea captain's ghost bite!" Amethyst said in a sing-song voice.

"What?!" cried Steven. The rest of the group just laughed.

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaaand that's a wrap for this chapter! But don't worry, I'll be back again soon! If you enjoyed this and have any questions/comments/suggestions, please don't be afraid to click that review box! and also know I take each suggestion into consideration. (I'm working on some stuff for future chapters, so if it doesn't show up right away... it will) I hope to see in the next chappie! see ya on the flip side!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Status update: Found more gem shards on the battlefield, we just started the fusion process. Hopefully like our last test, some will hatch earlier than expected. Battlefield also supplied some archaic weapons that could be useful. With some experimenting, and system upgrades, we may have the advantage. Location no longer Kindergarten as our safety may be compromised. Instead we are-" Peridot was interrupted when Jasper punched the wall in frustration.

"How long is this going to take!?" yelled Jasper.

"Well, it's going to take longer than a day!" explained Peridot, making her advanced hologram screen disappear.

Jasper sighed. "They won't be big enough."

" _What_?!"

"We need them to be the size of space ships!"

Peridot rolled her eyes. "Well that'd be great! Except we've collected all the ones we could find! There aren't any left! We're just going to have to deal with their size! They'll be big enough!"

Jasper was silent for a moment. "Where are the others you experimented with?"

"I assume the _Crystal Gems_ took them all."

"So then we'll just have to get them back…" Jasper started scheming. "Obviously they wouldn't leave their collected gems out in the open. We need to find out where their keeping those gem shards. If we could get out hands on those, we'd truly be unstoppable!"

Peridot groaned, "And I assume that I'm going to have to do that now aren't I?"

"Go! You're going to go find us some more army members." a devilish smile creeped on her face, as she gave a dark laugh.

* * *

"Jasper!" Steven sat up with a start, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped from his brow. Lapis suddenly gasped and sat up too. She rubbed her eyes and looked next to her. "Steven?"

"Hey, sorry. Did I wake you?" Steven asked.

Lapis shook her head. "No it wasn't you, I just had a weird dream. Jasper and Peridot were in a… room. I don't know where though. And they were planning something… something bad."

"Really? I think I had the same dream too!" Steven said a bit too loudly. Amethyst stirred, but she just kicked Pearl and continued to snore.

"Let's go somewhere we can talk." Lapis suggested. They stood up and snuck out of the house, onto the beach. The dark blue sky of night was starting to break into day, lightening with each minute passing. Over the ocean, the pink and orange of sunrise could barely be seen. The two gems sat down on the sand, silently. Both enjoying the calm breeze from the ocean, and recalling what they just dreamed. Lapis drew a deep breath in.

"So… We both had the exact same dream about Jasper and Peridot, planning on finding more gems for their army of fusions to use to destroy us all?"

Steven nodded "Sounds about right."

"This is bad. Their coming after us!"

"You're right. We need to tell Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl!" Steven said, Lapis shook her head. "Steven, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

The young boy stared at her in shock. "But… Why not? Don't you trust them?"

Lapis went silent, which was all the clarification Steven needed. "You don't trust them."

"Why should we tell them about a dream?!"

"You can't believe that _that_ was just a dream!"

"I know it wasn't but…" The blue gem sighed. "Look, Steven. The Crystal Gems, are an amazing team. They save the world and they have good fighting skills, but they're not strong enough. I could've easily taken you all down that night I stole the earth's ocean, and I had a cracked gem! I think I should take care this. I can handle Jasper."

Steven was absolutely flabbergasted. "So we're just not going to tell the gems at all?!"

"It's for your guys' safety! I've been fused with Jasper! I know exactly how she thinks. I can find her, and finish the job before she can get her hands on more gems! I know you think that they can do it, but I don't. I'm willing to have a slumber party with them, but fighting with them is different. They could get themselves killed Steven, and you too for that matter! Please… Just don't tell them about this. Promise me." Lapis asked with pleading eyes. Steven didn't want to believe what she was saying was true. He believed the Gems could do anything, and he didn't want Lapis working alone. But knowing that to some level she was right, he nodded. Lapis sighed in relief. "Thank you, Steven."

He gave a weak smile. "Just promise me you'll be careful?"

Lapis smiled back. "Of course."

* * *

Steven and Connie stood on two narrow pillars in the arena, each about 15 feet high.

"Mid air dueling is a sacred art that has been practiced for eons! The point is for you to learn balance. You must ground and center yourself. You must be unbreakable." Pearl explained from down below.

"Uh, Pearl? Are you sure this is safe?" called Steven.

"Of course! Well, mostly. Don't worry! You two will be great! Now get ready, because I'm going to hurdle rocks at you. Deflect them as much as possible! Remember: balance is the key! GO!"

Pearl used her spear to hit large rocks at them, like a baseball bat would hit a baseball. Connie took this challenge head on, and continued to hit each rock that came whizzing toward her with her sword. Steven did the best he could as well, and was doing great. Until he didn't see one heading right for his leg.

"Ow!" yelled Steven. Starting to lose his balance, "Woah!" He cried as he started falling off the side.

"Steven!" Connie yelled, paying less attention to their training.

Steven was falling down 15 feet and he knew the crash landing was going to hurt. A lot. Seeing that Pearl didn't setup any ways of safety before starting, which is so unlike her, Steven thought he was going to die for a second. Except suddenly, he felt a pair of arms catch him at the bottom before he could hit the ground. "Oh hey, thanks Garnet! That could've ended really badly!"

"That's what I'm here for." the tall gem replied. "Now, get back up there!" She then threw Steven high up into the air, where he landed back on top of the pillar without a scratch. "Steven's here!" he yelled as he immediately started deflecting rocks again.

"Woah! How'd you get back up here?" Connie asked, slightly surprised but still fighting.

"Apparently Garnet's our safety net. Makes sense, with her future vision and all. She threw me back up! It was kinda fun!" Finishing his sentence by shielding himself from another rock.

"Cool!" The two of them continued their new training technique for another 10 minutes. During that time, Steven fell off 2 more times, and Connie only did once.

"You're right! That is kinda fun!" Connie yelled as she landed back on top of the pillar, laughing.

Once they finished for the day, left with a couple of bruises from the rocks, Steven and Connie laughed as they had a fake battle with each other.

"You think you can challenge me? You will never defeat me! For I am, uh... the Fisherman!" said Steven, holding up his shield. He was definitely enjoying their little role playing.

"The Fisherman? Oh no! He's going to capture fish, and use them as Animal Byproduct!" laughed Connie drawing her sword jokingly. Steven laughed along, but their fun died down when they were both able to overhear Garnet and Pearl's conversation.

"Do you think her cannons would work? They didn't work last time."

"Stop worrying Pearl. They can't put up much of a fight. They don't have their technological weapons, and they don't have any way of getting back to homeworld. They're powerless. "

"That almost sounds too good to be true. How do we know she's not coming back with a whole army of… fusions?"

"Hard to believe she could. We bubbled all the gem shards she left. "

"Are they talking about Jasper and Peridot?" Connie whispered to Steven. Steven nodded grimly, still looking at the two older gems. Lately, all the gems could worry about was those homeworld gems again, despite them saying "it'll be easy." Which didn't settle his nerves at all. And now he had to keep a secret that Lapis made him promise to do! He just wished this would all end.

"Do you think she's going to come back to fight?"

Steven looked at her, "I know she is. But unlike before, it'll be a quick battle." he lied

"C'mon you two! It's getting late. We better get Connie home soon!" Pearl ushered them back to the warp pad, Garnet following close behind.

* * *

Steven and Connie were sitting on the beach later that day. They were both waiting for Connie's mother to pick her up.

"So, are you scared?" Connie asked Steven.

"Yeah, kind of. Jaspers pretty intimidating." Steven confessed. "I don't really like thinking about it."

"Lapis is going to help fight too, right?"

Steven shrugged, "She's still pretty weak from her fusion fiasco. We won't need her." he lied again. "We'll defeat Jasper and Peridot, and either keep them prisoner, or… finish the job." Even though Steven knew they were bad gems, he didn't like the thought about 'finishing the job.' A.k.a, killing them. "There's no such thing as a good war." Steven added, remembering what his dad had told him the night they first came to Earth.

"Well, at least you won't have to worry about them again! I can see that all of this has put a lot of strain on you and the gems. Wouldn't it be good to have this all over?" At that moment, a car beep interrupted them. Connie's mom. "Oh, I gotta go. I'll see you later! Bye Steven!" Connie ran up to the car waving goodbye.

"Bye." Steven waved weakly. Steven looked back at the ocean as she left. The sun was setting, and he would have head inside soon. But he sat there a little while longer. " _Come what may_ " he thought to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! So the new Steven Universe bomb just started. WHOOP WHOOP! I just wanted to add a note saying that I am writing this story to be happening BEFORE any of the new episodes of the Steven bomb. And if in the bomb they show them finding Malachite, then I hope you guys will still read my story! Think of it as a twist on Rebecca Sugar's ideas, or an alternate ending. Now with that being said, Chapter 6!**

* * *

"You're kidding!"

"Nope! It's gone! The water's powers are being used for energy. No more Angelite Falls!" explained Lapis.

"Home world sounds like it has changed a lot. More than I was expecting…" examined Pearl. She was suddenly glad she hadn't brought Steven into space that one time.

"I know. It was pretty frightening. I knew it would change, but I didn't realize how much!"

It was a few days and there was still no sign of either of the homeworld gems. Lapis and Pearl were relaxing on the couch, the ocean gem telling the story of her brief encounters of their home world.

"So, how did they capture you?" asked Pearl.

Lapis sighed, "Honestly, I'm not sure. I was trying to find my way around when suddenly someone came up behind me and blindfolded and gagged me. They called me an intruder to their planet. I tried to get away, but their weapons were too strong for me." She frowned as she recalled the memory. "Then I was interrogated about where I came from and 'who sent me.' It was a miracle they left the room long enough for me to send that message to Steven. Luckily without them noticing." The blue gem decided to leave out the part where they beat her when they found out about her sent message.

Pearl nodded, then her face showed signs of confusion. "I have a question. You could've teamed up with Jasper and taken her side. She did give some good points, reminding you how long you've been stuck on Earth. You had a reason to hurt us and you still didn't. Why?" Lapis took a second to think about her answer. "Well… I guess no matter how angry I was, I couldn't do anything so _evil_ like what Jasper wanted. Besides, Steven's my friend and he's a good kid. I couldn't just betray him." Lapis laughed a little, "Especially after healing my gem with his spit!" She gave a little shudder remembering the gross sensation. Pearl started laughing, "Oh yes! His healing powers! None of us expected his spit to work! Ugh! We were expecting him to have healing tears like…Like his mother."

"Who was his mother?" asked Lapis, tentatively.

"Rose Quartz." Pearl answered with a sigh.

"Rose was his mother?" Pearl nodded, not saying anything else. Laspis was surprised by this. She had seen Rose before while she was in the mirror. Quite a few times actually. She was able to put two and two together now. That's why Steven sounds like her, and looks like her. Thats explains why she's not here…

Lapis didn't need to ask why she wasn't around. She was well aware of what happens when a gem has a kid. Two gems can't exist at the same time. Lapis just put a hand on Pearl's shoulder for comfort, seeing her obvious sadness. "I'm sorry about what happened to her."

Pearl gave a sad smile, putting a hand over Lapis'. "Thank you."

The warp pad activated and Amethyst and Garnet appeared. "Hey y'all!" called Amethyst.

"Sup." Garnet greeted.

Pearl stood up, shaking off the heavy feelings she had from her previous conversation. "Was your mission a success?"

Garnet held up a deep green gem held in her dark pink bubble. She then tapped it and the bubble evaporated into thin air. "That tree monster shouldn't be much trouble anymore."

Lapis watched the scene in front of her in amazement. "Where did the gem go?"

"We keep all the corrupted gems we find in bubbles which we send to Garnet's room for safe keeping." said Pearl. "That way they don't disrupt the Earth, and if we ever find a way to fix these gems, then we know where they are."

"Wow. And their _only_ accessible in Garnet's room? There's no other way for anyone else to get them?" Lapis was worried about the possibility of them being stolen.

"Of course not! Well, I mean, they _could_ but that would involve breaking our temple door over there." said Amethyst pointing at the starred door.

"Which would be impossible, considering our door is indestructible!" added Pearl.

Garnet shrugged. "I could break it."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Ooookay, only someone with the equivalent to Garnet's strength can break the door. But really, we have nothing to worry about." Lapis however decided to worry. If she could break the door, then Jasper already could too. She would have to start her mission sooner than she thought.

"Hey guys!" Steven yelled as he opened the house door.

"Hey steven." chorused back the gems.

"You will never guess what happened on my way to my dad's!" Steven smiled in excitement, his news about to burst out of him.

"What happened?" asked Pearl, with slight concern.

"I saw Onion, and he gave me a high five!" Steven silently waited for his friend's reactions.

"That dude's weird." Amethyst commented.

"He is pretty weird." agreed Garnet.

"...Onion?" asked Lapis, very confused.

"C'mon! Him giving me a high five was really cool! He doesn't usually do that!" Steven argued.

"Well… Good for you then Steven!" Pearl gave a small smile, still not sure what the excitement was about over a _high five._

"Yeah. Way to go little man!" Amethyst said while ruffling his hair. Steven laughed.

Peridot approached the gem's home, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Sneaking up on the balcony, she pressed her back against the wall. She peaked through the window slightly. Four of the gems were in the living room. The tall fusion had a bubbled gem in her hand, which all of a sudden disappeared. Before Peridot could even react, she thought the tall gem had seen her in the window. She quickly pressed her back against the wall, silently praying she hadn't been seen.

After waiting a few moments, and making sure no one was coming to blow her cover, she peaked through the window again, focusing more on sound rather than sight. She listened very closely.

"We keep all the corrupted gems we find in bubbles which we send to Garnet's room for safe keeping..."

"... their _only_ accessible in Garnet's room? There's no other way for anyone else to get them?"

"Of course not! Well, I mean, they _could_ but that would involve breaking our temple door over there."

So that's all they had to do. Break that door. Peridot smiled evilly. Jasper was going to love this news.

Suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. If she didn't think fast she was going to get caught. Quickly, she used her helicopter fingers to fly herself on top of the roof, out of sight. She knew she was safe when whoever was approaching opened the door and closed it behind them. Peridot sighed in relief. First part of her mission done. She found out how to get in. Now the question was, _how_ to break that door down. She'd figure it out. For now, she needed to tell her boss about the news.

* * *

 **A/N: Ohhhh what gonna happen next!? You'll find out in chapter 7 which I am working on right now! It should be posted tomorrow. Now if you enjoyed the chapter or this story overall, don't be afraid to click the review button! I love hearing feedback from you guys, whether it's suggestions, questions or fun little comments! Reviews help me write faster! SO I'll see you guys of the flip side! BYE**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, this chapter is a longie! Usually I keep my chapters around 1,000 words, but this one is over 3,000. I just felt this chapter needed to be one long one, rather then 2 shorter ones. But I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

Lapis stood outside on the beach. She concentrated hard to control the ocean around her. Gallons of water floated above the shore. She shaped it into a flail, a spear, and all sorts of weapons that she could think of. If she could do this during the real battle, well, it wouldn't be much of a battle then. No one stood a chance. Lapis nodded. It's time to go then.

Lapis went back into the house and stepped onto the warp pad. It's been awhile since she used one, she wasn't sure she remembered how to do it. But if Steven learned, she knew she could probably figure it out again. She looked to her left and right to make sure no one was around. She stretched her arms out and was about to activate it.

"You're leaving?" a voice asked behind her. Lapis turned around to see Steven standing there.

"Yeah. I thought it would be about time I started the search."

"...And you're still sure it's a good idea that we're not telling the others?"

Lapis stepped off the pad and kneeled down in front of Steven. "Don't worry about it. When I get back, this mess will be all over. We won't need to tell them." What they could probably accomplish in weeks, Lapis was sure she could get done in mere hours. She just needed to make sure she was near a good water source. Jasper and Peridot didn't stand a chance. Steven just nodded grimly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"Oh, Steven. It's too dangerous. Besides, I need you to cover for me." Lapis put a hand on his shoulder. Stevens eyes welled up with tears, as he quickly pulled the blue gem into a hug. Unprepared, Lapis tensed at first. This was the first time Steven had ever hugged her. "Please, just come home safely." He sniffled. Lapis returned his hug.

"I promise Steven." She finally released him and she stepped back onto the warp pad. Giving a small smile and a wave, she then activated the pad with little struggle and left.

When the light disappeared, she was in the Kindergarten. She took a deep breath in. Let's do this. Lapis started exploring the dark location. Walls filled with gem shaped holes, and the tall injector robots stood lifelessly all around. This was the first time Lapis had ever seen this Kindergarten, and it unnerved her. She jumped off the pad and started making her way through the deserted location. Lapis already knew that Jasper wouldn't be here. In the dream she remembered Peridot writing in her log that they moved somewhere else so the Crystal Gems wouldn't find them. However, looking around here for clues wouldn't hurt.

She started looking for secret doors, or hidden rooms that Peridot might've used when she first started with the experiments. Walking around, she could almost feel the dark past of this place creeping up. Ignoring the slight fear and sickness she felt, she moved broken robot parts, and looked in crevices of rock for something. Anything! Maybe this was going to take longer than she thought.

* * *

Steven stared at the empty warp pad in silence. It wasn't yet 5 seconds Lapis had been gone and he already missed her. For a moment, he debated whether to follow her or not. He could help! He knew about the Kindergarten more than she did. But then again that's still not enough. But if anything happened, he could protect them both with his shield, or his bubble! He decided that she would need help. As he was about to step on the warp pad, Pearl and Amethyst walked in the front door.

"Hey Ste-man!" Amethyst called. Steven turned around, trying to act normal. "Oh, h-hey guys!"

"You going somewhere?" questioned Pearl.

"What? No, no! W-why would I leave?! I've got all the comforts of home right here!" Steven let out a nervous chuckle. Pearl looked at him skeptically. "Steven, are you hiding something?"

"Pssh! Of course not!" Steven gave a big, fake smile. Amethyst and Pearl looked at each other before looking back at the strange boy. "Ooookaaaayyy. Uh, where's Lapis?" asked the purple gem.

"Lapis? uhhh… She said she wanted to go for a swim! You know ocean gems and their… oceans." The two older gems just stared at him, debating whether or not to believe his story. Steven didn't know how much longer he could keep up this act, he needed to find some excuse to leave. "It's been a nice chat but I promised dad I'd hang out with him today so gotta go bye!" Then he quickly ran out of the house before Pearl or Amethyst could react.

"Yep. He's definitely hiding something." observed Pearl.

Amethyst shrugged. "He seems alright to me." Pearl face-palmed. Of course Amethyst would think that. She barely knows anything about parenting!

Garnet appeared out of the gem door. "Good, I'm glad your back. We have a mission. Where's Steven?"

"He just left. He was acting really strange. I think he's up to something." Pearl explained.

"Well whatever he's doing, we'll have to deal with it later." Garnet stepped onto the warp pad followed by the two others.

"So what's going on?" asked Amethyst

"There's another corrupted gem. It's located near the geode."

Pearl gasped. "If it touches the geode it could crack again! We have to capture it!"

"That's the plan." Garnet replied coolly as they warped themselves away.

* * *

Lapis lifted another big scrap of metal. Nope, nothing. She hadn't been searching very long, but this process was both slow extremely exhausting. She remembered Steven had told her they had already found their way into the Kindergarten's control center… twice. She suddenly regretted not taking him with her. She shook her head and sighed. Too late now. She decided to change directions and search in a new territory.

* * *

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl found the creature lurking by the geode. The huge monster resembled an octopus, but with less arms. It was blue and green all over, and had very big and very long tentacles. A big turquoise gem stood on its head.

"What the heck is that?" Pearl whispered, as to not disturb the monster just yet.

"It looks like an octopus… but with only 5 arms…" Amethyst observed.

"Sooo… it's a Pentapus?"

"It doesn't matter what it is! We just have to poof it!" Garnet interrupted. "Amethyst, use your whip to tie up it's tentacles. Pearl, distract it. I'll attack it from above." They all nodded and got into position. Pearl summoned her spear and started blocking any attacks the pentapus tried to throw her way. Behind it, Amethyst was waiting for the perfect opening to use her spiked whip. Garnet sat on top of the geode, ready to poof the creature with one punch. The purple gem found the perfect timing and tried tying up the Pentapus. However, instead of getting all five of it's strong lengthy tentacles, she only caught two of them. The monster screeched and broke Amethyst's whip, making it disappear. It then starting spinning out of control, creating a strong wind that sent them all falling on the ground. Then, with the flash, the creature disappeared.

"Ah! Where did it go!?" said the very panicked Pearl.

Garnet put a hand on her forehead, concentrating on using her future vision to see where the pentapus went. "It went to Mask Island! C'mon!" They quickly returned to the warp pad, and left, hoping they could catch the beast before it can hurt anyone.

* * *

Lapis sighed, she felt like she was getting nowhere. And it was starting to get darker… Or that was just her. This place just kept getting creepier. She sat down for a second on a rock. She put her head in her hands. How is she supposed to find Jasper and Peridot now? She took a deep breath in, looking up from her hands. To her left, she thought she saw something interesting. Standing up, and walking to it, she realized it was an open hole in the ground, covered by part of an injector robot. That's it! Finally! She slid down the steep slide-like ground into the control center. Looking around, she saw a lot of it was damaged. The main screen was cracked, and the gem powering it was shattered. Lapis took note of the rock pillars sticking out from the ground and ceiling. Most likely to be from those experiments with fusion. Lapis continued searching around. Peridot must've left something! Sadly, after a few minutes of searching, Lapis found that there really wasn't anything left to find. This whole trip has been a big waste of time. It's her fault, she should've known this was a useless places to look.

On a far wall to the right, there was an old looking map of gem locations on Earth. Lapis examined carefully. Where could they go that was safe from the Crystal Gems, remote, and stable for fusion growth? She looked and saw places like the Communications Hub, the Pyramid Gem temple, and even the Crystal Gem temple. However, in the top left corner, just off of the gem battle field, there was someplace labeled Aragonite Caves. Could this place be where they're hiding? It would make sense. Closed off, private and surrounded by water, and even a perfect place to incubate gems. Their wasn't any guarantee that that's where they're hiding, and this map is really dated, so there's no way to tell this place still exists! But it's better than nothing. Time to go then!

* * *

On Mask Island, the Gems struggled to defeat this monster. They found out that it can not only teleport places, but it can shoot sticky black ink at them, making their job even harder.

"Careful! Don't let it get to the water! We could lose it for good!" yelled Garnet. Amethyst and Pearl nodded in acknowledgement. Pearl dodged a squirt of ink, and threw her spear as hard as she could at the monster. It screeched, spewing more ink at the group. The Pentapus then started to spin again and disappear.

"Dang it! How long is this going to take?!" Amethyst complained.

"Where did it go this time?" asked Pearl to Garnet.

"I'm looking… It's headed for the Kindergarten! We have to go now!" she commanded. The two other gems nodded and ran back to the warp pad.

* * *

Steven decided to actually hang around with his dad for a bit. Knowing he'd have to stay out of the house for a while after telling the gems he'd be with him. Of course Greg was happy to see him, as he always was. Steven then helped him out with washing cars and then having a jam session with him. Now, Steven realized it was getting late and decided to head back. If Lapis was right, she should be back right now, hopefully with Jasper and Peridot's gems bubbled and stowed away. Forever.

While walking back home, he suddenly heard a big bang. Like something being broken. And it was coming from his house! What did Amethyst do this time?! Breaking into a sprint, he ran up the hill to his house and went inside as fast as he could. But instead of seeing Amethyst and the other gems with a broken piece of furniture, or fighting a corrupted gem like he was expecting, he saw the gem door kicked down. Jasper and Peridot were inside Garnet's room, stealing all the bubbled gems.

"What are you doing!? Stop!" Steven commanded.

Jasper and Peridot turned to look at the young boy. Jasper gave a bone-chilling smile. "Well if it isn't Rose Quartz? What, you think you can stop us? You don't stand a chance!"

Steven looked at her angrily. "I'm not Rose! I'm her son! Steven Quartz Universe! And I'm not letting you steal our gems!" Steven summoned his shield. Jasper looked at him wide eyed. So, Rose Quartz had a son? How cute. She laughed. She examined him closely. He wasn't like most gems. Gems usually were built stronger, and had non-human colored skin... "You're part human aren't you? That explains why you got out of your cell on the ship. Why you're so _weak._ " She motioned for Peridot to grab him without him noticing. Jasper started circling him. "You still can't control all your powers can you? If you did, you would've used them to stop us by now. But all you did was summon your puny shield. _Pathetic._ " Steven watched her, giving her his best menacing look. He tried to maintain his expression even though he knew that what she was saying was mostly correct. He was so concentrated on Jasper, he didn't realize that Peridot was coming up behind him, picking up Steven's baseball bat as a weapon.

"You are a bother to your team aren't you? They have to focus their time on training you, and raising you, rather than saving the world right? They'd be better off without you. You don't matter."

Steven felt a heavy reality of truth from her words sink in. Steven forgot about his shield, which then disappeared. Jasper smiled, his defenses were weakening. This was too easy.

"I guess I don't have to ask why Rose isn't here anymore. You killed her didn't you? Two gems can't exist at the same time, so it's _your_ fault she's gone. And I bet the Crystal Gems blame you for the death of their friend don't they!?"

Steven shook his head, trying his best not to cry. "No! You're wrong! That's not true!" He was trying to convince himself more than he was convincing the tall threatening gem.

"Your whole existence is a waste! Rose wouldn't have any trouble stopping us! But you are nothing! I know it, your 'friends' know it, I'm sure your own late mother knows it! Everyone knows, that you are a _joke_!" Jasper motioned Peridot to attack then, and she used the baseball bat to knock Steven out with one hard blow to the head.

* * *

Lapis wandered back out of the Kindergarten control center, ready to continue her journey to the Aragonite Caves. However, when she got closer to the warp pad she was shocked to see a giant octopus, except with only five arms. It started shrieking at her and squirting ink at her. Shielding her eyes from the black goo, she started running away from the beast to the warp pad. She slightly panicked when she saw it activate. What if it was Peridot and Jasper?

The light subsided and instead showed the Crystal Gems, covered in ink and obviously a little run down.

"What are you doing here?!" questioned Pearl when she saw the ocean gem.

"Forget about her! Get the Pentapus!" exclaimed Amethyst.

They immediately leaped back into action. Doing their best to strategize a way to take the beast down. Lapis watched with amazement. Is this what they usually did? Taking down an octopus- or Pentapus- is easy. She looked around, and saw no supply of water. Shoot. I guess a spear would have to do. She ran down by Pearl who was still fighting off a tentacle. Lapis grabbed the spear out of Pearl's hand, shocking her.

"What are you doing? That's my spear!"

Lapis ignored her, and then summoned her water wings and flew on top of the creature, where she stabbed it through it's soft and supple head. With one final shriek, the monster poofed away into it's gem.

The three crystal gems were panting, surprised at what Lapis had just accomplished. Garnet went over to the poofed Pentapus gem and bubbled it, sending it back to the house. She then turned to Lapis. "Do you care to explain what you're doing here?"

"Well you're welcome…" Lapis said to herself.

"What were you thinking? Coming here to the Kindergarten! It's dangerous!" Pearl chidded.

"Hey! I'm not Steven you know! I can take care of myself! I was just here to investigate the whereabouts of Jasper and Peridot!" The blue gem explained.

"We are covering it! You have no right being here!" Garnet argued.

"You're covering it?! I've already made more progress than any of you guys have made! While you all were chasing that… thing I was out here figuring out where they are! And I think I've cracked the code!"

"Well, I guess your disappearance is the explanation to Steven's-" Pearl gasped mid-sentence. "Who's at home with Steven?!"

"Chill Pearlly! He's with his dad today remember?" Amethyst reassured her.

"Yes, but he's probably home now. We have to-" Garnet suddenly took a sharp intake of breath and stumbled backwards, holding her head in her hands.

"Garnet? Garnet!" Pearl exclaimed, grabbing her arm for support. The tall gem remained silent.

"What's wrong with her?" Lapis asked.

"Future vision. Every so often she'll get a random vision that she can't control. Although, she hasn't had one in so long…" examined Pearl. When Garnet finally snapped out of it, she started panicking. "We need to get home. Now!" She ran as fast as she could to the warp pad, the confused group trying to keep up with her. They all gather on the pad and left. Mid-warp Pearl turned to Garnet, worried.

"Garnet, what happened? What did you see?!"

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she waited until they arrived back.

"This..." Garnet answered Pearl's previous question.

Around them, they saw a broken vase, and open front door, and a kicked down gem door with all of the corrupted gem bubbles gone from Garnet's room. And more importantly, no Steven.

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhhh! Steven's gone! What will happen next!? You'll find out in the next installment! If you enjoyed, don't be afraid to click that review box! Leave a comment/question/suggestion/joke, whatever! I love hearing feedback from you guys! I'll see ya on the flip side! BYE!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter's a little late. I've been struggling a bit with these next couple of chapters. Fixing plot holes, editing, and just writer's block overall. But I think I've figured it all out and the story shall continue! So with that said, chapter 8!**

* * *

When Steven woke up, his head hurt. A lot. Gently sitting up, he put a hand on his noggin. He confirmed that there was a big, aching bump there. Looking around him, he saw he was in a corner of a… room? And thick metal bars blocked it off so he couldn't get out. Standing up to inspect them, he put a tentative hand on one of them. He immediately regretted it when the bar suddenly gave him a painful shock of electricity. "Ow!" he exclaimed, backing away from the edge of his prison. Looking around, he noticed the rest of the room around him. Which was hard to do since it was mostly dark. He could see it was blue… maybe. His only light source was rippling moonlight in a window above him. Looking out the window he saw a large mask fish? The long nose and slightly creepy smile proved his suspicion. He must be underwater. The rest of his location didn't have much. Besides the window, his cage, and a machine in the corner, it was all empty.

What was he going to do? He couldn't escape without getting hurt, or being electrocuted, and who knew how long it was going to be before the gems could find him? He's never seen this place before, so he didn't know how close or far away from the temple he was. He tried to be as optimistic as he could, but all he wanted to do was lay down and give up. He was in the hands of Jasper and Peridot, so what was the point?

Steven sat down on the ground and kept his head down, sulking. Suddenly he heard someone approaching. Looking up slightly, he then realized it was the last people he wanted to see. Maybe if he just ignored them, maybe this exchange would be quick.

"The weaklings finally awake." Jasper commented.

"No, really? I didn't notice." Peridot rolled her eyes sarcastically. Eyeing the prisoner with a smirk.

"So, Quartz boy, how do you like your new and improved prison? You wanna know the ironic part? You could get out of the old jail cells back on our old ship, because you're half-human. But now you can't get out of a simple electric cage, because you're half-human!" Jasper gave a maniacal laugh, Steven glared at her with all the anger and hate he had in him.

"Well are we going to start the interrogation or aren't we?" Peridot decided to interrupt Jasper's taunting and get down to real business. Jasper smiled though. "We'll wait until morning. I wanna make sure I get to enjoy every second of tomorrow getting every detail out of this runt."

Steven looked the demonic gem dead in the eye. "I'm not telling you anything. What would you want to know anyway? You already took our gems, and me! What else would you need to know!? But it doesn't matter. There's no point in trying to force answers out of me because I won't talk!"

"That's not for you to decide!" Jasper snapped. "How we're going to plan our first battle is exactly what we need from you…" She leaned in close to his cage to drive her next words across, "Their weaknesses." Steven's eyes widened at what she wanted. Jasper continued, "You know more about the Crystal Gems than anyone, and not just about what they are, but _who_ they are. You know them personally. You are the key to taking them down!"

Steven stood up, challenging her. "No! I won't let you hurt my friends!"

The evil gem just smiled. "We'll see about that." She motioned for Peridot to follow her on the way out. "See you in the morning!"

Once they were gone, Steven sat back down. What's going to happen to him? What are they going to do? He's never been high-tolerant to pain. And what if the gems took too long to rescue him, and he's already…

Steven had a few tears leak from his eyes at such dark and scary thoughts. He lied down on his back. The ground was cold and hard, and he wished for his soft, warm, and familiar bed. Closing his eyes, he wished for a miracle, that somehow he'd live past tomorrow…

* * *

"We're sure that Steven's been kidnapped? What if he's just on his way home from Greg's?" asked the very worried Pearl. Garnet shook her head, lifting up the broken gem door. "My future vision wouldn't have suddenly acted up if Steven being abducted was a possibility. It happened Pearl. He's gone."

Pearl sunk down onto the couch, putting her head on her hands. Tears spilled over her eyes. "I can't believe they took him! They came here for the bubbled gems! Why did they have to take Steven? Our Steven!"

Lapis and Amethyst looked at each other, daring the other gem to comfort the crying Pearl. Amethyst wasn't good at emotional stuff and Lapis still didn't know the best way to make her feel better. Say it's going to be alright? A hug? Both gems wished Steven was here. He's the sensitive and compassionate one in the group. Lapis sat down next to Pearl, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you're worried about him. We all are. But we can't just sit here and do nothing!" said Lapis.

"Yeah! We need to kick some serious gem butt!" Amethyst chimed in.

"And how are we going to do that? They obviously aren't in the Kindergarten! We don't know where they are!" cried Pearl.

"Lapis, you said you found out where they are." Garnet commented, stepping away from the damaged gem door.

"Well, I had an idea. The Aragonite Caves." Lapis said

Pearl lifted her head from her hands in realization of the long forgotten location. "Of course… Near the battlefield, stranded, lots of room, oh my gosh! Lapis you figured it out!" She then grabbed the ocean gem and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "You solved the mystery!"

Lapis, slightly in pain replied. "All I did… was look at… a map!" She grimaced when Pearl finally let her go, the white gem giving an apologetic smile.

"Well, we know where they are! Let's go bust them out!" said Amethyst.

"No, we need a plan first." Garnet said, adjusting her shades.

"Pssh! I don't see why! We're justing getting back Steven!"

Pearl looked at the purple gem, exasperated. "And what about the corrupted gems that have just been stolen?"

"Oh yeah…" Amethyst said glancing at the gems' rooms. Now door-less. "Well can't we just wait until they, you know, leave the cave!? Then we can take back what's ours!"

"That's not an option. We don't know when they will leave, and we don't know if they ever will. Now that they have all our gems and Steven, they're not going to leave them unguarded for a second. We have to plan our rescue trip very carefully." Garnet explained.

"Well how are we going to 'plan it very carefully' if we don't know what it looks like in there? We can't just run in there blindly, flinging around our weapons. Maybe one of us could sneak in for a second, get a good look at what we're dealing with, and report back..." Pearl brainstormed more ideas.

"That's a great idea, if we wanted to get caught!" Amethyst exclaimed. Shouldn't that have been obvious in the first place?

They all sat in silence, thinking of all possible ways to get inside. Garnet even tried using future vision. No positive outcomes showed up. Until Pearl remembered something. "Lapis, didn't you and Steven communicate while you were fused with Jasper?"

Realization dawned on the ocean gem. "Yes. Yes we did! And we still can!"

"You can talk to him!" Pearl smiled widely. They might have an advantage!

"Quick! Go to sleep! Right now!" cried Amethyst.

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh, give me a minute!" Lapis rolled her eyes as she lied down on the couch, slightly uncomfortable with everyone staring at her waiting for her to sleep. Garnet ushered the other gems to the warp pad. "C'mon you two, she needs her rest."

"And where exactly are we going?" Pearl questioned.

Garnet started explaining as they left. Lapis sighed in relief. Good. She wouldn't have to worry about trying to sleep with everyone watching her. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to relax herself. She never slept often. She slept at the slumber party to humor Steven, but other than that she didn't need to. But right now, Steven's safety depended on it. Lapis continued to breathe in and out, until she felt herself drifting off. She only hoped she would be able to talk to Steven in there.

* * *

"Steven? Steven!" Lapis called. What seemed to obviously be a dream, considering there was a flying fish above her head and a talking shark behind her, she needed to find Steven and try talking to him. And maybe figure out what's up with all the ocean related dreams. She started walking ahead, ignoring whatever crazy water themed dream stuff passed her. Stingray with a top hat. Whale with wings. Starfish doing cartwheels. Still, no Steven. "Steven? Are you here?"

"Lapis?" she heard a familiar voice call. She turned and saw the young boy standing there. "Steven!" She quickly ran over to him, pulling him into a hug. He gently hugged back. "Are you okay? We've been so worried about you!"

"Yeah… Well, no. I don't know. So far they haven't really done anything except hit me with a baseball bat…" Steven tentatively put a hand to his head. "But their planning something. Something bad! They want me to tell them the gems weaknesses so they'd have the advantage when they attack! They're going to hurt me if I don't!"

Lapis felt the seriousness of Steven's words sink in. "Oh gosh… W-well don't worry! We're going to come get you as soon as possible!"

Steven nodded. "Lapis?... I'm scared. What if you guys are too late? What are they going to do to me?" Lapis looked at the poor, frightened boy.

"Steven, we'll find you. We won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

Steven knew to some extent she was lying. She couldn't predict that. But he knew if he wanted to make it, he'd have to keep his hopes up. He had to believe that the Crystal Gems would come for him eventually. He gave a small smile and nodded. Lapis then remembered what she came here for.

"Oh! But before we can find you, we need to know where you are! Do you have any idea where they're keeping you?"

"I'm not positive… But I think-" Steven was lost mid sentence as he started to disappear.

"What? No. No! You're starting to wake up! Steven! Where are you!?"

"We're-"

Unfortunately, that was the end of both their conversations. For both gems had woken up moments later.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh dang! What's going to happen to Steven!? Let me know your thoughts! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes, do not be afraid to click that review button! I love hearing from you guys! Well, I'll see you in the next chapter. BYE!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I don't have much to say about this chapter except- SPOILER- it's intense. And I just wanted to say thank you all for those who reviewed! It was really nice seeing how many people are invested in my little story :) So thanks again, and with that, Chapter 9!**

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When Lapis awoke, the gems were back, waiting for Lapis to wake. Lapis blinked a couple of times before sitting up slowly, stretching.

"You're up! Did you talk to Steven? Is he okay? Where is he!?" Pearl immediately started asking Lapis questions that she couldn't answer all at once. Garnet out a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "Calm down Pearl, let's give her a minute to explain." The stoic gem turned her attention her Lapis. "Did you get a hold of Steven?"

Lapis looked out the window to see the sun barely rising on the horizon. "Oh no… We have to get Steven! Now!" Lapis jumped off the couch and started heading towards the warp pad. Amethyst and Pearl stared at her confused and scared at her sudden panic. Garnet stopped her. "Not until you tell us what you saw."

"It's Steven! They're gonna hurt him!"

"What!?" cried the anxious Pearl.

"No!" exclaimed Amethyst.

"Yes! He said that they wanted to know secrets about you guys to have an advantage in battle! And they're going to torture the answers out of him! So we have to go look in the Aragonite Caves now!"

The gems fell into a stunned silence. Pearl put a hand over her mouth, trying not to cry. Amethyst clenched her fists in rage, looking down at the floor. Garnet put a hand on the kitchen counter for support, the other hand covering her eyes.

"So that's it. We're going to have to leave him in the hands of Jasper and Peridot… to be tortured." Pearl started crying.

"Well we have to find him! Isn't there anything we can do!?" Amethyst yelled.

"We can keep looking for him, but it could take too long." Garnet replied sadly.

"What are you talking about? Steven could be in the caves! So let's go look! Hurry!" Lapis tried to usher them to the warp pad, before Amethyst started yelling. "This is all _your_ fault!" she roared.

"What!?" the blue gem was taken aback, and the purple one continued. "Yeah! If you hadn't been out 'searching' for Jasper yesterday, you could've been here to protect Steven!"

"I was only trying to help!" Lapis retorted.

"By going off on an adventure of a lost cause! We checked! The Aragonite Caves are empty!"

"Wait, what!?' Lapis was shocked by the fact that they already looked.

"Amethyst, calm down!" Pearl ordered. Amethyst turned to the white gem. "No! It's true isn't it?! Lapis could've been here with Steven and kept him from being abducted!"

"Or they both could've been captured and we'd have no idea what happened to either of them!" Garnet added. "What Lapis did was wrong but that is not the issue right now!"

Lapis suddenly became more and more furious. "What I did was wrong? I thought we agreed we weren't going to the Aragonite Caves until after I talked to Steven! Remember the part where you said: 'we have to plan our rescue trip carefully?' Or what about, 'We can't just run in there blindly, flinging around our weapons?!' Whatever happened to that?"

Pearl spoke up, "We thought it would be better to just go look. But we did have a plan! Amethyst shape shifted herself to be a smaller size and went inside, unseen."

Amethyst huffed, "Which was all for nothing because no one was in there! It was deserted! No Jasper or Peridot! No gems! And more importantly: No Steven! So great job detective! Steven's gone and we have no idea where he is!"

"Amethyst stop!" Garnet commanded, putting a hand on the purple one's shoulder. After a moment, Amethyst started to calm down. Garnet turned her attention back to the blue gem. "You didn't get any answer- any _idea_ \- where Steven is." Which was more of a statement rather than a question. Lapis sighed sadly and nodded. This ended their heated discussion. A very heavy silence fell over the room. If they had no clue where Steven is… How are they going to save him?

When Steven awoke, he was in even more pain then when he awoke the first time. The aching of his head was even worse than it was the night before, and his whole body complained as he tried to sit up. Sleeping on the floor is not a great idea.

Ignoring his pain, he stood up. The window showed daylight breaking through. At least he thought. It's kind of hard to tell the time of day when you're underwater. Knowing what morning meant, Steven decided to try breaking out.

Summoning his shield, he started hitting the thick metal bars with it. Over and over again he tried to make a dent or a break in his prison, but to no avail. Instead of it working and giving him his freedom like he thought, it only wore him out more and more.

"Ugh!" he cried in frustration, having his shield disappear. A surrender. He wished that the gems would somehow storm in and rescue him, but he didn't see how. He couldn't tell Lapis where he is. Heck, he didn't even know where he was himself! It's hopeless.

"Well that was an entertaining display!" commented a rough voice. Steven's stomach sank. Oh no. "Did you really think a puny pink shield could get through lead bars?" Jasper asked as she walked up to his cage, Peridot close behind her. Steven backed away, knowing what was coming. Peridot opened the cage and quickly grabbed him before he could react, and she held his arms behind his back. Steven was panicking too much to summon his shield, and creating a bubble wouldn't do much except trap him and Peridot in the same contained space. That didn't suit his fancy very much. Jasper approached him with a wicked grin. "Why don't you make this easier on yourself, and us, by answering one simple question: How can we destroy the Crystal Gems?"

Steven's heart was racing, and knowing he couldn't betray his closest friends, he kept his mouth shut. Waiting, and getting no answer, Jasper picked him up by his shirt collar. "I'm going to ask again: How can we destroy the Crystal Gems!?" Steven grabbed her wrist, as if doing so would make her loosen her grip. "I'm. Not. Telling!" He quipped back. Jasper smirked, "You asked for it."

She then slammed him into the bars of the cell, shocking him with bolts of electricity. In the temple they were in, only Steven's suffering cry could be heard.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeeah sorry about the sort-of cliff hanger! I thought it would be an interesting ending and I didn't want to go into too much detail about Steven's torture. (Mostly because I'm bad at writing stuff like that and I didn't want to think about poor little Steven being hurt. I'm sure some of you feel the same.) But thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes, then don't be afraid to click that review button! With that, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	10. Chapter 10

Lapis stood on the shore, watching the crashing waves roll in. It's been a few days since Steven has been kidnapped. Lapis has tried contacting him again, but to no avail. He wasn't anywhere in her dreams or in reality. Obviously, they were all worried sick about him. There was no way to tell if he was alive or dead. Amethyst seemed to still hold a grudge against the ocean gem, which Lapis couldn't blame her for. Pearl just seemed to always be panicking or crying, pacing back and forth often. Garnet just kept herself busy, with either regular missions or searching Steven. She rarely talked anymore. Well she never talked that much in the first place, but now it was a miracle if she said a couple of words a day.

Right now the Crystal Gems were out looking for him again. Lapis never went with them. She wasn't part of their team, and she didn't want to pretend that she was. They could handle missions by themselves. She couldn't help them much anyway. If she couldn't find Jasper or Peridot the first time, so she probably never would. And now she just lost contact with Steven.

Sighing, Lapis walked into the water. Swimming could usually clear her mind. When she was waist deep, she dove underwater. She swam just underneath the surface, not really going anywhere Looking up, she saw the light from the sun, rippling. Breathing out, bubbles rose from her mouth, wobbling like jellyfish. Being a gem, she didn't even need to breathe, making it possible for her to stay under the surface for a long time if she wished. She was just glad that even during chaos and misfortunes, Lapis could still find some refuge in the ocean.

She closed her eyes, just letting the water carry her. She felt as if she was levitating. She was weightless. She listened to the muffled sounds of the waves crashing above her. She was drifting off as if she was about to sleep, when she saw weird images flashed in front of her eyes. Rippled moonlight in the water, a gem gadget, a fish with a mask…

Opening her eyes, she swam back up to the surface. Wiping water away from her face, she shook her head. The ocean dreams are starting to get even weirder. It didn't even seem like a dream! She decided it was time to get out of the water. Picking up the towel she brought, she started drying her hair as she walked up the hill to the house.

As Lapis entered the house, see saw the Gems just returning on their warp pad.

"Any luck?" the blue gem asked. Amethyst huffed. "Nope."

Pearl sat down on the couch tiredly. "Ugh! Where could he be!? We've looked everywhere! The battlefield, the communications hub, the universal warp pad, we even looked around here in Beach City for _something_! But we found nothing!"

"What are you looking for?" came a voice from the door. Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet mentally face palmed as they saw who it was. _Greg._ They never told Greg that his own _son_ is missing! As he walked in, Pearl gave a big cheesy smile. "Greg! uh... Hiiiii..." she greeted, trying to seem casual.

Greg stared at the white gem with confusion. What was up with her? "Hi? Um... Is Steven here? I haven't seen him in a while, so I wanted to see if he wanted to go to out for some Fish Stew Pizza. You know, have some Father-Son bonding time?"

Pearl looked at her teammates with uncertainty. Pearl started trying to come up with an answer "Oh yes! Steven. He is uhh..."

"He's at the Fun Land Arcade!" Amethyst filled in.

"Really? I thought that place closed early on Sundays." Greg commented. Shoot! What were they going to tell him now?!

"Oh... Did she say Arcade? She meant uh... Connie's house!" Pearl said. "Smooth." Lapis commented dryly, receiving a glare from the Pearl.

Greg wasn't convinced, and he became more suspicious. "Guys, what's going on? Where's my son?"

They all remained silent. Lapis, knowing how much Steven's father cared about his son's well being, didn't like that they were trying to hide the fact Steven has been kidnapped. "Seriously? You aren't going to tell him?"

"Lapis!" cried Amethyst and Pearl.

"What? He deserves to know!"

"We don't need another person's panicking to deal with! The task at hand is our top priority right now!" "The task at hand" was Pearl's secret phrase for "Finding Steven."

"No. Lapis is right." said Garnet.

"What?" The three fighting gems turned to look at the stoic gem. Garnet went on. "Greg is Steven's father. He has the right to know where his son is." Lapis, Amethyst and Pearl were amazed. That was the most Garnet has said all day!

Garnet approached Greg, the latter fearing what she had to say regarding Steven. Instead of beating around the bush, Garnet aid blankly, "Steven's been kidnapped."

Greg felt his stomach twist and his heart stop at those three words. _Steven's been kidnapped._ He swallowed as he tried not to panic. "B-by who?!"

"Jasper and Peridot. They also ruined our door." Pearl explained gesturing to the exposed gem rooms. Greg's breathing became more erratic. "Is he going to be okay?"

"We don't know." Garnet replied. Greg sat on the stairs that led to Steven's bed, putting his head in his hands. So it's true. He just might run fresh out of family.

* * *

Steven's breathing was ragged and uneven. They'd finally stopped interrogating him for the day. He could tell that each day he wouldn't give any information, they became more and more impatient. He knew it would just continue tomorrow anyway, only worse. He was lying in a fetal position, hoping that the pain would subside soon. He'd been beaten, shocked, even sliced with sharp objects. If it weren't for some of Steven's healing abilities, he was sure he'd be a goner. Steven found that his healing spit worked off and on, he needed to figure out how to control it. Currently, it wasn't working. There were still cuts, bruises and burns left on his body.

Steven couldn't help but wonder where the gems were. "We won't let anything happen to you." Lapis had told him. It's too late. They already have done things to him and he's got the scars to prove it. How long would it be before they did rescue him? A week? A month? It might as well be. He couldn't tell Lapis where he was and he hasn't been able to contact her since. If they waited too long, Steven knew he'd be dead.

He tried lying on his back, only to be met with an intense stinging pain overwhelming him. The electricity had left Steven with severe burns all along his shoulder blades and spine. Hissing in pain, he looked up at the window. This was his only comfort in such a dark and dank room. Occasionally he'll see another mask fish swim by. His only viewing of outside life.

Steven let out a long wavering breath. Why couldn't he just be stronger? If any of the Crystal Gems were in here, they could break out in seconds. Steven's been locked in here for _days._ 3 ½ to be exact. He was so weak at this point that he couldn't summon his shield anymore. His powers were basically useless.

Steven put a hand over his gem. The small pink gemstone was doing nothing to help him so far. Why was that? Sitting up, he lifted his shirt to inspect it. Although it looked generally the same, a noticeable fracture was clear, right in the center of the gem. "No." Steven whispered. This explained why his healing powers weren't working properly. This explained why he can't talk to Lapis through his dreams anymore! This was why he couldn't summon his shield or his bubble! He wasn't weak, he was cracked! Steven quickly licked his hand and tried healing the small crack. Nothing. Dang it! Steven felt himself panic. Tomorrow they will break it more for sure! What was he going to do!?

* * *

 **A/N: AHHH Cliff hanger! What's going to happen next? Let me know what you think! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes, then don't be afraid to click that review button! I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! I have some good news! I have just hit 1,000 visitors for The End! I wanna thank everyone who's been reading so far! It means so much to me! So here's a new chapter for you guys! I tried to make this one at least a little more light-hearted. Buuuut there's still a twist. I'M NOT SPOILING ANYTHING THOUGH. With that, chapter 11!**

* * *

"Focus Connie! Watch what it's doing. When you watch your opponent closely, you can predict their next move!" Pearl's hologram advanced onto Connie, while the latter continued to fight against its attacks. They'd been fighting for a while now, and usually Steven was there to have her back. But now Connie's arm was getting tired, and she wished she could lower her sword for a second. Despite it all, she continued to fight. Finally seeing an opening when the hologram raised its sword, Connie thrust her sword into the Holo-Pearl's abdomen, making it disappear.

Pearl nodded in approval "Good work. Now this time, really think about what-"

"Umm, actually can we take a break? My arm's a little sore." Connie asked.

"Good. It means you're arm's getting stronger. Let's keep going."

"But I've been practicing for 3 hours now. Surely a quick 10 minute break would be acceptable?"

Pearl looked at Connie with absolute seriousness. "You don't get 'breaks' in battle. You keep fighting and fighting until one of you falls. I won't let you be the one to crumble."

Connie cowered slightly at the gems words. "Pearl, are you okay? You've been acting really strange." Pearl breathed in and she regained her composure. "Yes. I'm fine."

"It's because you miss Steven, right?" Connie asked.

Pearl sadly smiled, "Yeah. I think we've all been a mess since he left."

"Yeah... it's kinda weird. Steven hasn't been answering his phone, and you guys seem really stressed out. If I didn't know any better I'd say it sounds like Steven's been kidnapped!" The young girl laughed.

Pearl froze. "Yeah..." she said awkwardly. She was onto them. She was going to figure out everything!

"Pearl, that was just a joke. Steven's going to be back in a few days, remember?"

If only she knew. Pearl had decided not to tell Connie about Steven disappearance quite yet, so she lied and told her Steven went on a road trip with Greg. "Yeah, a few days…" Pearl said weakly. She then shook her head. "You know, I think that's enough for today. We'll continue this next week."

"Okay." replied Connie, glad she wouldn't have to fling around a heavy sword anymore.

When they returned, they accidentally walked in at the wrong moment. Lapis was casually reading a book on the couch, while Amethyst and Garnet were in a very heated argument.

"Amethyst, you can't just barge into places without a warning! I told you to wait for the signal!"

"You were waiting too long! And why should it matter? They weren't in there anyway!"

"And what if they were? You could've endangered the both of us!"

"I don't care! I just want to find Steven already!"

"We all do! But running into temples blindly flinging your whip isn't going to get him back! You have to follow orders!"

"Why would you need to find Steven? Isn't he with his dad?" Connie asked.

Garnet and Amethyst turned to see Pearl and Connie standing there. They froze. She wasn't supposed to hear that! "H-hey! Look who it is! How was the lesson today? Did you kick Pearl's butt?" Amethyst said with a big fake smile.

"Why would you need to find Steven?" Connie asked again.

Lapis was upset to hear that on one even told Steven's best friend about him being kidnapped. "You never told her?!" She asked setting down her book.

"No, and I want to keep it that way!" Pearl said back, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. Connie stepped away. "Tell me what? If it's something regarding Steven I want to know what it is! Maybe I can help!"

Another pause fell upon the group. Pearl cleared her throat. "Connie, really, there's nothing to worry about. We're taking care of it."

Connie was confused. What the heck is going on? "Guys, where is Steven?"

Amethyst groaned. "Ugh! How many of these conversations are we going to have!? Look, Let me break it down for you: Steven's been kidnapped by Jasper and Peridot and we have no idea where they could be. Okay?!" she cried, frustrated.

"What?" said the shocked Connie.

"Amethyst!" Pearl said exasperated.

"Yep! He's been gone for 4 days now!"

"W-Well do you guys have a plan to find him?" Connie asked, becoming more and more worried.

"If we did, than he wouldn't still be missing than would he?" the purple gem said sarcastically.

"Amethyst! Stop!" Pearl said again.

"No..." Connie started thinking of anything she could do to help find her friend. Her mind raced through every idea she had. Which wasn't much since the only stuff she about the gems was what Steven had told her. "Have you tried using Garnet's future vision?"

"Garnet has future vision?" Lapis asked.

"It doesn't work like that." Garnet replied, ignoring Lapis. "I can see all these different options on where they could be. I can't see where they really are."

"Well there's gotta be some way to find him! Right?"

Pearl started explaining,"So far we can only look for him physically. Sort of a guess and check. We used to be able to have Lapis talk to him through both their dreams, but now he's not anywhere to be found whenever she tries…" Lapis looked away, upset by the fact that the one thing that made her useful in the group is no longer working.

"But don't you have some other gem tracking device? Or something?"

"Sadly, no. We've thought of everything. We tried Lapis, we tried future vision, we've even thought of trying Peridot's escape pod, but apparently they took that too when they took Steven!" Pearl sat on the stool by the kitchen counter.

"Well.. what if…" Connie tried not to panic… or cry. Then a light bulb clicked, and she suddenly got an idea. "What about Lion?" she suggested.

Pearl froze at the realization, and her eyes widened. "Li-Lion?"

"Yeah. Steven's giant, pink, jungle cat? You don't suppose maybe he would know would he?" asked Connie.

Pearl face-palmed. "UGH! Of course! How could we even miss that!?"

"We can use Lion's teleporting skills and his weird boy-pet relationship telepathy and find him! He's saved! Way to go Connie!" Amethyst whooped and started dancing around, dragging Connie into the celebration.

"Yes. Well I could've thought of that too…" Pearl said saltily.

"If you could've, you would've already suggested it." Garnet commented coolly.

Amethyst threw her hands in the air. "OHHH! P just got shut dooowwwn! Ha ha!" Pearl rolled her eyes and grumbled.

"Well I would've, except Lion doesn't even have that power... Does he?" asked Pearl.

"Yeah… Well, maybe… I think?" Amethyst stopped in her tracks.

"See? This may not even work! Besides, Steven's the only one who can control him. Who's to say that we could too? He probably wouldn't even listen to us." Pearl's more practical side started coming out, they haven't even tried Lion out yet and she was already about to give up.

"Well you don't know that. It could!" Connie retorted. Amethyst started laughing again, "Oh Pearl! You just got Connie'd!"

Pearl groaned at Amethyst's antics, "That's not even a real thing." She turned to the stoic gem. "Garnet, what do you think?"

"It's worth a shot." she said casually.

"Yes! Woo Hoo! Let's go find Lion!" called Amethyst, running outside.

"Wait for me!" Connie yelled, running after her.

"Hey! I wanna help!" Lapis said, following them.

"But Garnet… What if it doesn't work?" Pearl asked the tall gem.

"Then we keep looking until we find a solution that _will_ work." came Garnet's reply as she left the house.

* * *

Connie and the gems found Lion outside, taking a nap under the porch. When the small group approached him, he woke up, yawning. They all stood in front of him for a while, unsure what to do next.

"So… How do we, you know, command him?" Amethyst asked.

"Well don't look at me. Last time I saw Lion, I tried to kill him with water." said Lapis, referring to the night she stole the ocean. Lion responded with a small but menacing growl toward the ocean gem, clearly remembering her. "Heh heh, sorry Lion." she apologized.

"Maybe some well placed discipline will work." Pearl suggested. The gem kneeled down in front of the huge animal. "Lion, go find Steven!" She pointed out from under the porch, gesturing for him to get up and go. However, all he did was huff in her face and stay put. "Ugh!" she let out a frustrated sigh. "Steven really needs to train this thing!"

"Why don't we get him a leash and drag him out of there?" Amethyst summoned her whip to work as a rope.

"And then what? Give him one of Steven's shirts? Have him follow his scent? He's not a dog Amethyst! He's a beast!" said Pearl.

"Well it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Amethyst tried to tie the whip around his neck, but instead Lion treated it like a game, and he started batting at it with his paw. Lion soon grabbed the whip in his mouth, and started a game of tug-of-war. Amethyst tried to get her whip back, "Hey! Stop it! It's mine!" He did eventually let go of the weapon, making the purple gem fall on her butt. Connie and Pearl snickered, while Amethyst rolled her eyes and made her whip disappear. "Well I don't suppose anyone else has any better ideas?"

Garnet summoned a gauntlet, "Physical violence."

"What?! No, no, no, no, let's not do that…" Pearl said as she held back Garnet's weaponed arm. Lion, seeing Garnet's defenses up, let out a small roar as a warning.

"Why on earth would that be a good idea?" Lapis asked.

"I thought violence would be the answer." Garnet said, putting away the gauntlet.

"Connie? Why don't you give it a try?" Pearl suggested.

"Well… I once had a cat a few years ago… Before he ran away. I'm sure telling a giant pink cat what to do will be easy enough!" Connie smiled nervously as she approached the Lion. "Hey Lion. So Steven's missing, and he's in serious danger. And it would be great if you could find him for us? If possible?" Lion looked right into Connie's eyes, seeming to understand every word. Lion sat up from his lying position. Connie grinned. He's going to find Steven! It worked!

Lion instead coughed a couple of times, and then hacked up a slimy, pink hairball. Right in front of Connie. "Ew!" she cried. Backing away.

"That didn't work." Amethyst commented dryly.

"I guess that's it." Pearl sighed. "Let's just… go keep looking." Connie frowned as the gems went back inside. Lapis lingered outside with her for a bit. "Sorry about your friend." she said.

Connie let out a wavering breath. "You guys will find him, right?"

Lapis gave a small, but encouraging smile. "Even if it kills us." Connie let out a short, mirthless laugh. Ironic. In this situation 'even if it kills us' could be true. Connie then realized the time. She needed to head home soon.

"I'd better get going. But… will you make sure Steven gets in touch with me when you find him?" Lapis took note that she said 'when' instead of 'if.' She nodded. "Of course." the ocean gem promised. Connie nodded and started walking down by the shore, heading back to Beach City. Lapis sighed. She's a good kid. She just hoped they could bring her best friend back.

* * *

Steven sat in his cell. Usually around this time Jasper and Peridot would be back. But they were a few hours late. During this time Steven started to think. He thought to himself: jail life was really boring! Sure it's better than getting beaten again, but it's still no fun. Usually if he got bored at home he would play his ukulele, or play a video game, or mess around with Connie or the gems. But now he was forced to do nothing. That's a totally different type of torture.

However, he did relish the fact that they're laying off of him for a little while. Looking down at his gem again, the crack still remained. His healing spit still wasn't working. What if his gem could never be healed? It would just keep getting worse and worse. And soon, it could be completely broken. What would happen then? Most gems die when that happens, but he's half human. Would he also die?

Steven really wished he had a mind numbing activity to do. It would finally stop his thinking. This is so boring!

Suddenly he heard footsteps. " _Guess it's time."_ he thought, bracing himself. However, instead of Jasper entering his cage right away, she stood outside of it.

"So Quartz boy, we can see that clearly torture isn't working. You're too stubborn for your own good. Really, you could've avoided all of this by answering one simple question!" Jasper paused. "Which is why we've decided to go with the Spinel."

Steven looked up. What the heck is a Spinel? Jasper walked over to the gem machine in the corner of the room. "This machine used to be some gem-tech used for draining water for energy. However we've made some upgrades. What used to be a useless hunk of metal is now an incredible a machine that drains gem power!"

Steven looked at the home world gem with complete horror. How is that even possible? Taking away a gem's power? Steven swallowed, as Jasper continued her diabolical plan. "So, tomorrow evening, you _will_ give us an answer. And if you don't, you can kiss your powers goodbye! Just think, you'd be a regular, useless, pathetic human being. You wouldn't even be a Crystal Gem anymore, would you? I guess you'd have to be kicked off the team. And the best part is, that worthless pink gem you got there, will do nothing but remind you of your failure everyday of your life."

Steven was overcome with fear. He either told Jasper the Gem's secrets or give up everything he has worked for. Everything he has _lived_ for. Jasper laughed. "See you in 24 hours, Quartz boy!" then she left.

No... This is bad. He thought physical beatings were bad enough. If he didn't get rescued tomorrow, he could lose everything. Maybe it wasn't worth it. Maybe it would be better if he just told them what they wanted to know. It would save him. But the question is, if he saved himself by doing this, what would happen to the gems?

Steven started thinking about his friends. He remembered the time when they all made a together breakfast. He remembered when the gems made him a rigged simulator to give him a much needed success. He remembered Pearl breaking down for the first time because of his mother's scabbard. He remembered Amethyst admitting at she hated herself at the Kindergarten. He remembered Garnet almost unfusing when seeing the monster of a fusion that Peridot made. He thought of Lapis, her gem cracked, just wanting to go home. He even remembered when he was little, and he had written a song for the Crystal Gems.

 _If you're evil and you're on the rise,_

 _You can count on the four of us taking you down._

 _'Cause we're good and evil never beats us._

 _We'll win the fight, and then go out for pizzas._

 _We are the Crystal Gems,_

 _We'll always save the day._

 _And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way._

 _That's why the people of this world believe in,_

 _Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl..._

"And Steven…" He whispered to himself. He realized he cared about them too much to betray them at all. He would rather lose his powers than see his team lose to horrible gems like Jasper and Peridot. Even if he did lose everything, the gems would still be there for him. They were his family. And maybe he could still help. He could work on his fencing skills more and become a human knight. Like Connie. Whatever tomorrow would bring, Steven knew what he was going to do. Even if it meant living, for the rest of his life, as a regular, useless, pathetic human being.

* * *

 **A/N: I just had to add the theme song in there! I love the original pilot version so I just had to squeeze it in :) Anyway that's the end of this chapter! If you liked this and have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes don't be afraid to click that review box! With that, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! I really hope you like this chapter! I worked pretty hard on this one. But enough talking already. Chapter 12!**

* * *

"Okay, Lion let's try this one more time!" Lapis held a picture of Steven in front of Lion. It was a picture taken of him in front of their house, smiling wide. Lapis decided not to give up on Steven's pet just yet, so she wanted to try some other tactics today. Sitting on the beach, the ocean gem sat a good distance away from the Lion as to not provoke him. Lapis pointed at Steven's photo. "Steven." She threw the picture behind her. "Gone." She pointed to where she threw the photo. "Go find."

Lion looked blankly at the picture, then back at Lapis. Then he started licking his paw. Lapis groaned. "You know, it's because you lick yourself that you get so many hairballs." Lion huffed at her, and continued his bath.

"Any luck?" called Pearl from the house balcony.

"No." Lapis called back. Standing up, and brushing sand off her dress, she decided to give up and go back inside. Pearl met her at the top of the house stairs. "Well, don't be discouraged. None of us can handle Lion. Steven has trouble with him sometimes too!" Pearl laughed at all the times Lion has disobeyed an order.

"You'd think he'd at least know what to do in a life or death situation." Lapis joked, half-heartedly.

When they went back inside, they saw Amethyst and Garnet studying a map on the coffee table. Amethyst sat on the couch, hand on her cheek, as Garnet sat in a chair across from her, massaging her temple.

"We've tried all these caves on the north side of this hemisphere, now we have to try heading west." Garnet thought out loud.

"Ugh, this is going to take forever!" Amethyst complained. "Why do we have to look in _every. single. gem location?_ Can't we just look in the places where they _could_ be?"

"No. That's not an option. Jasper and Peridot are hiding somewhere we'd never expect them to be. We have to look very carefully."

"Fine, then let's just look in all the unusual places! Problem solved!"

"They've been going at it for a while now." Pearl sighed. Lapis knew how much they all stressed themselves out. Today marked the 5th day, but everyone felt as if it had been much longer.

"Any new ideas?" Lapis asked, sitting in a chair next to Garnet.

"No." Amethyst replied grimly, reclining back on the couch.

"It's kind of strange. Not having Steven around here." Pearl admitted after a short silence.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Without that little goofball I always feel like something's missing. We haven't been on our own like this since Steven was little and still living with Greg." Amethyst reminisced on the day Steven first moved in.

"What was Steven like? When he was younger?" Lapis asked, curious.

Pearl laughed, thinking back. "He was definitely a hand-full!"

"But he was a good kid." Garnet added.

"Remember the time he broke the TV with his shield?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes! He thought he could summon his weapon with ice cream!" Pearl smiled at the memory. "I can't believe he actually knew the cookie cat rap!"

"I think what I miss most about him is his songs." The purple gem said. Everyone laughed a little. Steven did love making up songs.

"I just miss… him." Pearl said sadly.

Lapis looked down at her lap. She thought about the last time she saw Steven. He tearfully gave her a hug, and wished her luck on her journey. Lapis thought she could handle Jasper and Peridot. That she could find them in _one day_ and take them down. Even though she didn't know all the gem locations on Earth. She knew close to nothing in fact. She realized how foolish she was at the time. She needed to apologize.

Lapis sighed. "It's all my fault."

"Huh?" Pearl was pulled from her own thoughts at Lapis' confession. Amethyst and Garnet sat up, curious to what she had to say.

"I made Steven promise not to tell you this… but on the night of the slumber party, we both had a dream. But it was more of a vision. It was Jasper and Peridot. They were talking, and they were planning on stealing the corrupted gems from you guys."

"So, wait- You knew they were coming after our gems before and you didn't tell us!?" Amethyst cried.

"That's why I went to the Kindergarten! I was trying to find them to _prevent_ that from happening! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I'm sorry..."

"I don't believe this! We could've protected Steven and the gems if only _you_ had told us!" Pearl stood up, angrily pointing a finger at Lapis.

"You think I don't realize that? I've been blaming myself from the beginning! I feel awful!" Lapis yelled, tears pricking her eyes. "You have no idea how much I wish I never did what I did…"

"There's nothing you can do about it now. Steven's gone." Garnet stated. Lapis couldn't tell if the stoic gem was blaming her or not.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Amethyst kept giving Lapis a side glare, and Pearl just looked so disappointed. The blue gem knew she had to try to clear things up. "I'm sorry. Really. And not just sorry about Steven's kidnapping… but everything. I tried to kill you guys twice, I caused the invasion of your planet, I couldn't keep Malachite trapped, and now this. Sometimes I wish Steven had never let me out of the mirror. Things would've been better off that way…" By the end of her speech, she was crying.

All the other gems were secretly shocked by her confession. They were still mad, but hearing someone wish they were still trapped just for their happiness? It made their hearts soften a bit. Not to mention they felt bad about seeing her cry. However, they remained silent. Lapis wiped her eyes and decided she needed to leave the house for a while. Where else did she have to go? "I'm sorry I can't help with finding Steven either." She started heading for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Amethyst.

"No where." Lapis replied. As she was about to grab the door handle, an intense pain overcame her. She took a step back, and it got worse. Crying in pain, she crumbled to the ground.

"Lapis?" Pearl called, worried by this new behavior.

Lapis didn't reply. Her head hurt. She felt as if she was burned on differet parts of her body. She even felt her gem starting to crack again.

"What's wrong with her?!" Amethyst asked, panicking a little.

"I-It hurts!" Lapis struggled to say, clenching her eyes shut. That's when the visions acted up. She saw some of the same things she had seen before in dreams. Rippling moonlight in water, a mask fish, a gem machine. Then she saw different things clearly. Steven was in a cage, Jasper standing outside. " _T_ _omorrow evening, you will give us an answer. And if you don't, you can kiss your powers goodbye!_ " Steven looked scared, and quite frankly, horrible. Bruises covered his face, as well as a split lip. She only could guess how beat up the rest of his body was. More images flashed in front of her eyes. A blue temple, a cracked gem, and Steven's cage once more.

That was it. The vision was over and her pain subsided. Pearl was kneeling next to her, hand on her shoulder as support. Garnet and Amethyst stood in front of her, unsure of what to do to help. Lapis tried sitting up, shaking from fear.

"Are you okay?" Pearl asked.

"What the heck was that?" Amethyst asked.

"I-I think it was another vision…" Lapis said.

Amethyst and Pearl's eyes widened, and they looked at each other, shocked. "Well what did you see?!" The purple gem asked.

"I didn't see much. But I was just… in so much pain. Like my gem was cracked again, a-and I felt like a was burned."

"And this was only a vision? How is that even possible?!" Pearl asked, completely shocked. Lapis shook her head. "I don't know. I've never experienced anything like that before…"

Garnet kneeled down in front of the ocean gem. "Are you sure you didn't see anything important?"

Lapis tried re-gathering her thoughts. "I saw Steven, and he was locked up. Jasper was saying something about taking away his powers."

"Taking away gem powers?! That's impractical! No one can even achieve something like that!… Right?" Pearl wondered, worriedly.

"Did you at least see where he is?" Amethyst asked hopefully.

"Maybe. All I saw was a blue temple, Steven, and Jasper… and a mask fish? They might've been underwater." Lapis said, trying to connect the meaning of everything.

"Garnet, you don't think…?" Pearl didn't need to finish her question. Garnet already went back to the map on the coffee table and picked it up. Looking closely, she adjusted her shades. "There's an underwater temple a few miles south of Mask Island." she stated.

"Is that where Steven is?" Amethyst asked.

"Possibly. Only one way to find out." Garnet said as she headed for the warp pad. "Let's go." Amethyst and Pearl nodded, determined.

"Wait, I can help!" Lapis said getting up off the floor.

"No!" Pearl objected, "I mean- uh, are you sure that's a good idea? You did just have a painful… _vision_ just now. Maybe it's better if you just stay here and rest?"

Lapis shook her head. "I'm fine! I think what I felt is what Steven was feeling… If Jasper and Peridot have the capability to inflict that much pain on him, _and_ are able to take away his powers then you guys are going to need my help!"

"We're only going there to get Steven. Nothing else. We'll be fine." Garnet said, ready to leave.

"Please. I'm an ocean gem. I know more about the ocean than anyone. I have the ability to control water! I could come in handy! Look, Steven's my friend too… I want to be there to make sure he gets home safely, rather than sit here and worry. I know I've been screwing up lately, but let me try to help fix my mistakes." The blue gem pleaded.

The three Crystal Gems looked at each other, a silent debate between them going on. "I guess it's okay with me…" Pearl admitted. Garnet nodded, also approving.

"Well we're not going to save Steven any faster if you just stand there! C'mon! We gotta go!" Amethyst ushered. Lapis gave a thankful smile and joined them on the warp pad. They were going to get their Steven back.

* * *

It was getting darker. At least darker than it already was in the room. Night was approaching, and it would soon be 24 hours. It was almost time…

Steven did his best to do everything he could with a cracked gem. Maybe if he could pull out a shield or a bubble, he could protect himself. He focused really hard, and tried to summon his bubble first. His pink safeguard did show up, but wavered and disappeared again after a few seconds. He took a deep breath tried his shield instead. However, nothing happened at all. "No!" Steven groaned, frustrated. He was doomed.

It didn't seem like his friends were going to save him anytime soon. He was losing the hope that they ever would. Were they even looking for him? If they were, they would've found him by now, right? Well it didn't matter now. It was too late. He was beaten, bruised, and burned. And soon, he could add powerless to the list.

Maybe there was a chance the machine won't even work. Taking away a gem's powers is close to impossible! No one should even have that kind of power! But Jasper and Peridot don't play by the rules… which is probably why they always win. With gem-tech as advanced as they have it on Home World, anything is possible.

Steven tensed when he heard a set of footsteps approaching. This is the moment. Time to say goodbye to everything he knew about being a Crystal Gem. He wouldn't need it after today.

Jasper approached the cage. "Alright Quartz boy. This is the last time we're asking you for an answer, and you know the consequences if you don't. Don't be stupid and just tell us the Crystal Gem's secrets!"

Steven took in a deep breath and remained silent, which took everything he had. After a moment Jasper laughed. "You must be a complete moron! You are really willing to give up _everything_ for a bunch of weak rebels! It's _pathetic._ " Jasper was about to open the cage, ready to get him over to the Spinel. Steven kept his head down, avoiding eye-contact.

"What would your friends think? What would Rose Quartz think? You're _choosing_ to have your powers taken away. You should've realized by now that love is weakness. Answering one simple question would've saved you all the trouble. But I guess the weak just get weaker, and the dumb just get dumber."

"Hate to burst your bubble Jasper-" came a familiar voice. Was that Pearl? "-but _'dumber'_ isn't a word!"

Steven looked up and smiled when he saw Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl standing there with their weapons out. "Guys?"

* * *

 **A/N: I hate to end it like this, but I gotta leave something to write about for the next chapter!... Please don't kill me. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes then don't be afraid to click that review button! And with that, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Alright guys. The time has come for a battle scene! Please enjoy chapter 13!**

* * *

"Guys?"

"Steven!" The gems called back, relieved to see him, and shocked to see the state he was in.

"How did you clods get in here?! Where's Peridot!?" Jasper asked angrily.

"Right here." Amethyst pulled Peridot from out behind her. She was all tied up. Amethyst threw the green gem on the ground and she landed with a thud. The purple gem smirked. "I'm getting a sense of deja vu right now. How about you?"

"Ha ha. Very funny." Peridot said sarcastically, struggling against Amethyst's strong whip.

"I guess I'm just going to have to take care of you myself!" Jasper growled as she summoned her helmet.

"Gems, get Steven out of here! I'll handle this!" Garnet commanded. The gems nodded as Jasper quickly advanced toward Garnet. Jasper started throwing quick punches and swift kicks, but Garnet dodged each one, throwing in her own attacks when possible. Garnet was able to eventually hit Jasper square in the jaw, fueling her anger. Jasper used a spin attack, shoving the tall gem into a wall. Garnet grunted from the contact, but easily kicked Jasper off of her. Garnet jumped in the air, prepared to give a full-forced punch to the homeworld gem's face. However Jasper anticipated her move and grabbed her arm instead, throwing her into the ground. Hard.

Meanwhile, Pearl and Amethyst approached Steven's cage.

"Wait! It's an electric cage! Don't touch it!" Steven warned.

Pearl instead found the lock on the side of the cage. Using her spear, she hit it as hard as she could and it broke, opening the cage door. Steven got up and ran into Pearls waiting arms. Amethyst ran beside Pearl, joining in on a group hug.

"Are you okay little dude?" Amethyst asked tentatively, not liking the look of all of Steven's injuries.

"I am now." Steven replied, relieved.

"C'mon, we're getting you out of here!" Pearl said to Steven, holding him close. She was just so glad to have him back.

Peridot, seeing the other gems preoccupied, scooted over to the electric cage, using it to damage the whip and break it. Peridot ran into another room of the underwater temple unseen. The whole temple only consisted six different areas, all connected by a long hallway. One was the simple area you found when you first entered, then there was a chamber that had Steven's cage and the Spinel in it, and the last was this room. The rest of the abides conjoined to the hallway were empty, except for any remnants left behind from other gems before. In this particular room where Peridot was, there was old gem tech from over 6,000 years ago, and her own beaten up escape pod. Using some parts of the gem tech, she had turned the Spinel into a machine that could suck gem powers. She found she could power it with the leftover energy from the escape pod. She also used parts of the archaic technology to make a special trap for the Crystal Gems. Specially made shields would surround the inside of the temple by her command. They were designed specifically to become stronger, the harder the enemy fought against it. This was also powered by the escape pod.

Peridot smirked. This was perfect. They could trap the Crystal Gems here and stop them for good. Once they won the battle in here, they could take away each of their gem powers, leaving them to be useless hunks of rock and a weak human child. Then they wouldn't have to worry about anyone interfering with their fusion experiments again.

Peridot quickly finished plugging in the shields to start powering them up. She had to make sure she did this before the Crystal Gems could stop her or escape. Adjusting a few wires in the escape pod, she heard a whizzing sound, indicating that the shields were ready to go up on her command. The, after pushing a few buttons, she knew that her plan was complete. Now no one can get in or out of the temple.

"Where's Peridot?" Pearl asked, not seeing the homeworld gem anywhere.

"She was tied up right there!" Amethyst said, wondering where she went.

"Amethyst! You were supposed to keep an eye on her!"

"How was I supposed to know she could escape?!"

"Well, we have to find her!" Pearl handed Steven to Amethyst. "Get him home safely. We'll be back soon."

Amethyst nodded. "C'mon bud. You're going home."

Garnet got up from the broken floor, unfazed. She squated into a fighter's stance. "I've beaten you before Jasper! You can't win!"

"We'll see about that!" Jasper did another spin attack, aiming for the tall gem. However, she was thrown off course when a big wave of water knocked her over.

"Lapis! What are you doing?! I told you to go find the corrupted gems!" Garnet yelled, seeing the ocean gem standing there.

"I tried! They're not here! I've checked every room in this temple!" Lapis argued.

Jasper stood up, dripping wet from Lapis' attack of ocean water. She laughed. "You didn't really think we'd keep the gems here did you? We knew you'd come after us eventually. Right now, they're hidden. Far away from here. I expect in a few days they'll hatch into powerful _fusions._ "

Garnet started breathing heavily, clenching her fists. They'd already taken corrupted gems and fused them?! How dare they do this! What do they think fusion is?! It isn't for creating monsters! It's a relationship! Garnet couldn't contain her anger any longer as she attacked Jasper head on. She ignored any technique or accuracy she usually thought about when fighting. Right now, she was just punching and kicking the homeworld gem with blind rage. Jasper appeared to be struggling to dodge each attack, but refused to be beaten.

Pearl looked around in each area of the temple until she found Peridot inside the technology room, finishing activating the shields. "Peridot!" she called, ready to attack.

"Oh, for crystal's sake!" Peridot groaned as she used her helicopter fingers to try to get out of Pearl's reach. Pearl instead chased her back down to where the prison chamber was, where Garnet and Jasper continued fighting. Lapis watched on in shock at Garnet's outburst, when she saw Peridot flying in. Collecting the ocean water she used on Jasper, she flung it full-force onto the green gem, making her fall to the ground. Pearl caught up to see Peridot soaked, and Lapis approaching her.

"Lapis? You're supposed to be looking for the gems!" Pearl said, aiming her spear at Peridot so she wouldn't move.

"I did! I've checked everywhere! Jasper already admitted that they're not here!" Lapis explained.

Garnet, mustering up every ounce of strength she had, shoved Jasper against the wall. Her forearm on the homeworld gem's neck, choking her. "Where are the gems?!" Garnet asked furiously.

"Like I'd... ever tell you!" Jasper choked out.

"Guys! We got a situation!" Amethyst yelled, running back in the chamber with Steven under her arm.

"Amethyst! Get Steven out of here! It's too dangerous!" Pearl commanded.

"That's the problem! We can't!" Amethyst retorted.

"What do you mean you can't?" Garnet asked, still keeping Jasper under her forearm.

"What I _mean_ is I tried to leave, but there's something blocking the door! When I tried to kick it down it just knocked me backwards!" Amethyst explained, putting Steven down.

"Ha ha! Yes! The shields work!" Peridot laughed, still hostage on the floor by Pearl's spear.

"What shields?" Lapis asked. During this time, Garnet became distracted. Jasper kneed her in the stomach, and Garnet stumbled back with a grunt.

"Special gem shields." Jasper stated. "An invisible force created to keep _you_ from escaping."

"What!? It can't be!" Pearl started panicking. She threw her spear towards a window to see if she could break it. The spear bounced off, crashing to the ground. A light green color rippled from the spot where she hit the window, and it expanded around the rest of the temple.

Jasper smirked. "Wouldn't do that if I were you. The more you fight it, the stronger it gets."

The Crystal Gems were shocked to realize they were trapped here. How were they supposed to get out?! Jasper noticed Steven cowering next to Amethyst. She quickly grabbed him by the shirt collar and put a hand around his throat.

"Unhand him!" Pearl demanded, summoning a new spear. Garnet and Amethyst looked ready to attack.

"Not a step closer or the runt gets it!" Jasper warned. She clenched the hand around Steven's throat tighter, making him gasp. She got her point across. No one moved. Jasper noticed the Spinel was close by. She smirked. "This will be a treat. You gems can be the first to watch as your little friend here get his powers taken away… For good!"

"No!" The Crystal Gems chorused. Jasper smiled wickedly as she walked Steven toward the machine. Pearl put a hand over her mouth and started crying, as Amethyst and Garnet looked so defeated. Lapis looked on, helpless and guilty about the scene in front of her. Steven smiled weakly at them. "It's okay guys. I'm just going to become a full human, like my dad!" he tried reassuring them. Jasper tightened her grip on him, making him shut up.

Lapis couldn't watch any longer. She started controlling water outside the temple and shaped in into giant fists. She started making them pound against the temple, trying to break the shield. Nothing. Green light kept rippling every time she came down upon the invisible force. Peridot rolled her eyes at her foolishness. She was just making it worse. What the green gem didn't realize though was that with each punch, the shield was getting stronger. Which meant it was taking more and more power from the escape pod.

Jasper turned on the machine, ready to strap Steven in. It started making churning and whizzing sounds. Lapis, panicking more, tried hitting the outside temple harder and harder with more and more water. The rest of the Gem's didn't know what to do. If they tried to attack, Jasper could hurt Steven. But if they did nothing, Steven will lose his powers.

Peridot watched on with a smile. Finally, everything was set into motion. However, she suddenly heard an unusual sound coming from the technology room. Looking over to the room's entrace, smoke could be seen. Oh no…

"Wait! Turn it off! You're going to-"

Suddenly, a popping sound was heard. The Spinel broke down and ceased to work, and the shields came down. Lapis punched the temple one last time, unknowing that the shield was inactive. The ceiling came crumbling down as water quickly flooded the room. Jasper eventually loosened her grip on Steven, allowing him to escape.

Pearl swam up and wiped water out of her eyes. She saw Steven, coughing and too weak to swim on his own. She quickly grabbed him with one arm for support. "I've got you Steven." She assured him.

Amethyst spit out a mouthful of water, and Garnet started yelling to them all. "We need to get out of here! Start swimming!"

Lapis knew swimming wouldn't get them away in time. Seeing as Jasper and Peridot were right behind them, she had to think fast. So she mustered up her remaining energy and created a water platform under the Crystal Gems and herself.

"Woah, mama!" Amethyst exclaimed, surprised she was now floating above sea level. Lapis gave a small smile at the purple gem's holler. She then looked over at Pearl, still holding Steven. He didn't look good. His breathing was ragged and was even whimpering in pain. She assumed the cuts and burns on his body stung from the salt water. They needed to take care of him, and soon.

When they made it to the shore of the island, Lapis made the platform dissolve back into the ocean. Garnet looked to Lapis, giving her an approving nod. "Nice work." she commented. Lapis smiled, finally she did something right. They got Steven back. They all ran back to the warp pad, as Peridot groaned, watching them. "Well that went _swimmingly._ " she commented, no pun intended.

Jasper ignored her as stared on at those Crystal Gems. _Great._ She now had no temple, no Spinel, no shields, and no Steven.

* * *

 **A/N: Steven's back! WOOHOO! Really hope you enjoyed this chapter, special shout out to those who have given me ideas for this ;) If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes then don't be afraid to click that review button! And with that, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so so so sorry this took a little longer than usual! I am currently on vacation with some family so I haven't had the time to sit down and write for a while. However I have some free time now so I'm going to try to post a few more chapters while I'm at it! And with that, chapter 14!**

* * *

When they arrived back at the house, Pearl rushed Steven over to the couch. Steven had his eyes closed, half conscious from exhaustion and pain. Lying him down, Pearl inspected his showing injuries closely. He had a black eye, again. He also had bruises and red, blistery scars running along his arms, neck, and part of his face. A few cuts covered his body as well. Some even opened up again from their previous fight and were bleeding. His clothes were torn, and dirty, and not to mention now wet. Pearl took a deep breath in.

"Garnet, there's a first aid kit in the cupboard. Far left, top shelf. Do you mind grabbing it?" Garnet nodded and went to retrieve the first aid equipment.

"Why can't we just take him to Rose's sanctuary?" Amethyst asked. "There's enough water in there to heal a thousand Stevens."

"There's plenty of Rose's tears in the fountain, but they're still limited. We have to conserve them as much as possible. Besides, we can fix him up. We won't need her tears." Pearl stated.

"But he has healing spit right? He can just fix himself up!" Lapis asked, trying not to freak out.

"I already tried… Spit's not working so well." Steven said, broken.

Lapis looked at him anxiously. She didn't know a lot about humans, but she knew enough to say that his wounds were bad. Why didn't he just regenerate? He's part gem isn't he? Doesn't he also have that ability? Lapis looked at the poor boy, eyes shut and teeth clenched, trying to cope with the hurt. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"We'll make sure of it." Pearl said confidently. She put all her overwhelming emotions aside. Someone needed to aid Steven, and that someone would have to be her. Now was not the time for panic. Garnet handed Pearl the first aid kit and she opened it, pulling out a gauze pad and some antibacterial solution. Getting the gauze damp with the solution, Pearl looked hesitant. "This might sting a bit…" she informed Steven. He was unresponsive. Pearl gently placed the gauze pad on a burn on his upper arm. Steven cried out in pain.

Outside, Lion was napping under the porch again. His ears perked up as he heard the distressed cry. Standing, he ran up the porch steps and gave a small roar. Lapis saw the pink lion standing outside, scratching on the door. She walked over and opened it, letting Lion inside. The jungle cat went up to Steven, laying his head on the couch in front of the boy. Lion gently huffed in his face to try and spur a reaction. Steven opened his eyes slightly. "Hey Lion." he said painfully. Lion hopped up on the couch next to the boy, letting Steven lean on him. Usually Pearl would've scolded the pet for being on the couch, but she let it go this time. Steven needed his pet.

Amethyst watched Pearl carefully, knowing she wouldn't have been able to treat Steven without freaking out, unlike her. "What did they do to you little man?"

Steven tried to find the right words. "They… They just, wailed on me I guess… They wanted answers, and when I wouldn't talk... Jasper mostly did the beating. Ow!" he hissed as Pearl cleansed another wound. "Sorry." she quickly apologized.

Amethyst turned to Garnet. "Are you sure we shouldn't take him to the hospital or something?" she asked.

Garnet shrugged. "I don't see how a human hospital is going to help a half-human gem child." she replied in her usual stoic behavior. "I think Pearl can handle this."

"But maybe the hospital could fix him just as well as we could! Maybe even better right?"

"No hospital will be able to fix this…" Pearl commented as she lifted Steven's shirt to reveal his cracked gem. Amethyst and Lapis gasped. "Oh, no…" The purple gem whispered.

Garnet took a sharp intake of a breath, trying to remain calm. "When did this happen?" she asked seriously.

Steven shook his head. "I don't know. I noticed it a few days ago." He knew his gem was worse than it was when he was first the cracked. Before, it was a small fracture. Now it was bigger, and the break receded deeper in the gem.

"We have no choice. We have to take him to Rose's sanctuary." Garnet stated, slightly panicking now. She started heading back to the warp pad, expecting the gems to follow her.

Pearl sighed in acceptance and nodded, gently picking Steven up. She did her best to run with him, trying not to jostle or hurt him any further. Amethyst hesitated, "Um, hello? What about the part with the 'conserve the tears' and the 'we can fix him' stuff?" she asked. Lapis shrugged and followed the group, wanting to make sure he would make it out okay. Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's just get him healed already!"

Warping to the fountain's location, the Crystal Gems took note that the brambles and thorns didn't grow back yet. Good. The fountain was still working.

They approached the grand landmark, seeing the beautiful statues of Rose Quartz surrounding the pool of water. Lapis looked up at the biggest Rose statue, watching the waterfall of pink tears flowing down. "So... Rose had healing tears?"

"Yup." Amethyst confirmed.

"...And this fountain is full of those tears?"

"Uh-huh."

"She must've had a lot of issues to cry this much…" Lapis commented. Pearl gave the ocean gem a small glare. Lapis swallowed, "No offense." Pearl rolled her eyes and looked at the boy in her arms. "How exactly should we do this…?" she asked uncertainly.

"Is there a wrong way to heal a kid with his mother's tears?" Lapis asked.

"No but there is a way to _drown_ a kid in his mother's tears! We should be careful…" Pearl explained.

"I got this P." Amethyst said, taking Steven before Pearl could protest. "Bomb's away!" the purple gem yelled as she threw Steven into the fountain without hesitation.

"Amethyst!" Pearl exclaimed, shocked.

"What? We wanna heal him don't we?" Amethyst shrugged, and Pearl groaned.

When Steven made contact with the water, he shut his eyes tightly, thinking it would hurt. Tears were basically salt water right? That should sting pretty bad! However, he was surprised to find it felt cool and refreshing. His pain disappeared almost instantly. He felt his wounds shrinking and then vanishing. Swimming back up to the surface, he inspected his arms. Nothing. He looked at his gem. No crack! He was as good as new! Smiling he looked at his friends. He saw Pearl and Amethyst busy arguing over something. Lapis watched the fight from the side, awkwardly. Garnet had her head in her hand, annoyed by their constant bickering.

"We should've set him in gently! He could drown!" Pearl argued. Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Pssh, _He could drown!_ " she mocked the perfect gem. "Steven knows how to swim! You need to chill Pearlly!"

"Excuse me!?"

"Um guys? I'm fine!" Steven interrupted, waving. Now he could really celebrate his return.

"Steven!" Pearl cried, giving him a helping hand out of the fountain. Steven took it and got out, before hugging her tightly. Pearl smiled and returned the hug, not minding the fact he was all wet.

"Aw yeah! Steven's okay!" Amethyst hugged both of them. Garnet smirked, "Good to have you back." she said as she joined the group hug. They remained there a bit, enjoying the moment. Then Garnet noticed Lapis still standing off to the side. She was smiling at the sight. A gem family back together. The tall gem extended a hand to the blue gem. Lapis grinned, taking it. Not expecting Garnet's next move when she pulled Lapis into the group hug as well.

"I'm so glad you guys found me." Steven admitted after a while.

Pearl sighed in relief, "We are too."

* * *

Later that night, Steven sat down with the rest of the gems. Steven was laying on the couch with Lion again, and Lapis next to him. Amethyst was sitting on the floor, while Garnet and Pearl were sitting in chairs across from Steven. They decided to go over everything that happened while Steven was trapped, and he told them everything he remembered. How the first day they slammed him into the electric cage. The next day he was physically beaten. The next he was jabbed with dull spears, which were still sharp enough to break skin. And the rest of the days repeated like that. If they hadn't found him when they did, he would've also been powerless.

"Jeez, you're one tough dude!" Amethyst commented when he finished his story. Steven laughed weakly. "Yeah, I guess…" He didn't mention how many times he had cried in his cage at night from his pain...

"But Jasper did all that, just to know how to _defeat_ us?" Pearl wondered.

"She must've been really desperate." Garnet concluded.

"But Steven, if it would've saved you all the trouble, you could've just confessed. We would've understood." Pearl said sincerely. Steven shook his head. "You guys would've done the same for me. I wanted to do the same. I wanted to be strong. In the real way." he smiled. And if he was being honest, he didn't really _know_ what their weaknesses were. Sure, Pearl was sensitive about his mother Rose, Amethyst was sensitive about the Kindergarten, and Garnet was sensitive about fusion. But how was admitting that going to help Jasper and Peridot at all? He was sure they'd somehow use that information to their advantage, maybe. But he kept his mouth shut, which was he was glad about.

"I think we're all just happy you're home safely now." Lapis admitted.

"I am too… But what are we gonna do about Jasper and Peridot? They're still out there. With gem fusions! They could come back for us any day now!" Steven pointed out.

"We'll deal with it then. The water destroyed all the technology they had in the underwater temple. Now we just have to find where they're hiding the clusters and it'll be over and done." Garnet said.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "You make it sound easier than it is."

"Aw c'mon, I'm sure it won't be too bad! You found me right?" Steven said optimistically.

Pearl smiled. "Right."

"So… How did you know where to look?" Steven asked.

Pearl shrugged. "We didn't. We had no idea you were in an underwater temple until Lapis…" she didn't finish her sentence. _Until Lapis had that vision about you._

Steven turned to the blue gem. "You found me?"

Lapis looked away, "Kinda. I just… had a vision." She jumped a bit when she felt Steven suddenly hugging her. "Thanks." He said.

Lapis sighed. "You shouldn't be thanking me. It's my fault you were kidnapped in the first place."

Steven let go of her and looked up, confused. Pearl cut in. "Lapis, you don't have to think like that. We've put it behind us."

"But _I_ can't put it behind me! You saw Steven. _That_ was because of me."

"No, _that_ was because of Jasper." Pearl argued.

"And besides, you got him back so why should it matter?" Amethyst said, trying to cheer her up. Lapis shook her head. "You said so yourself. If I hadn't left him alone, I could've protected him."

Steven looked at his teammates. "What's this is about? You think it's Lapis' fault about what happened to me? And now you're making her believe it?"

"No! Steven, it's not like that-" Pearl tried explaining.

"Steven, really! It was my fault! I didn't have to go out searching for Jasper, I could've just stayed put. I didn't find anything useful anyway! It was a waste of time." said Lapis.

"I don't want to hear to talking like that! No one is to be blamed here. Least of all you. You were only trying to help. So can we all just… stop pointing fingers? I'm okay now. We can let this go."

The gems silently nodded, knowing he was right. They were amazed at how such a young boy could settle their arguments so quickly. Garnet smirked. "How did we ever get along without you?"

Amethyst scoffed. "We didn't."

* * *

Lapis sat on the roof that night, staring up at the full moon and stars. It was only an hour after they had that talk, and she had a lot to think about. They all did. Steven being shoved into an electric cage? That's a really difficult thing to imagine happening to a small boy. But he had the burns to prove it.

Lapis sighed. She wasn't surprised about what Jasper did to him though. Jasper was ruthless. Lapis knew all too well how severe the homeworld gem's wrath can be. She had experienced the same thing first hand...

 _"Where did you come from?!" Jasper asked angrily._

 _"I already told you! I'm from here!" Lapis replied._

 _"According to an annual census we have here on homeworld, we don't have any Lapis' here." Peridot argued. She had her hologram hand out, checking for Lapis' name, and not seeing it._

 _"No, you don't understand! I was trapped on Earth! I've been trapped there for thousands of years!"_

 _"Well if you were trapped, then how did you get back?" Jasper asked._

 _"I…" Lapis decided to leave Steven and the Crystal Gems out of this. "I escaped. That's all."_

 _Jasper looked at the ocean gem closely. "You're not telling us something…"_

 _Lapis looked away, unwilling to answer. Peridot rolled her eyes, still doing work on the hologram. "You didn't happen to see any Steven's there did you?" she asked, only half serious._

 _Lapis was shocked. "H-how did you know?" Jasper turned to Peridot, unaware of how she knew the name either. Peridot explained. "I sent a couple robots down to Earth's Kindergarten to try get the systems up and running. But then that_ Steven _showed up with those Crystal Gems and destroyed everything!"_

 _"Crystal Gems huh?" Jasper turned back to Lapis, "Tell us, what do you know about these 'Crystal Gems'?"_

 _"N-nothing! I only encountered them a few times after I escaped!"_

 _"You're lying!"_

 _"It's the truth!"_

 _Before Jasper could continue, a yellow gem entered the room. Lapis could only see her silhouette though. "Jasper! You're needed down in the control center!"_

 _Jasper rolled her eyes and started leaving the room, Peridot following. Jasper looked over her shoulder. "I'll be back. You'd better have your story straight when I return, or we're both going to have a problem now won't we?"_

 _When the door shut, Lapis looked around the room. There was practically nothing in there. Just a chair and a desk used for interrogation, and some really strange gem tech. A whole panel of buttons sat to her right and she couldn't make sense of it. What was this place? This was not the homeworld she remembered. She got up continued searching for some way to escape. A key, a piece of gem tech, something she could break a window with. Anything!_

 _Looking to her left, there was a machine looking somewhat like a… wailing stone? She quickly approached it. Cylinder shaped, button on top for recording. Yes, this was a wailing stone! Except it was connected to wires and had weird designs on it. She hoped she could operate it. More importantly, she hoped Steven would receive the message. She turned it on ready to record a message, when a hologram screen appeared. It took her a moment to realize that this was a more advanced version of a wailing stone. It created a video! She shook her head and pressed a few buttons on the screen, hoping she was recording. None of this made sense!_

 _"Steven! I hope you're able to hear this! There's a gem looking for you. She even knew your name! I don't know how, I didn't tell her I swear! She's on her way to Earth, and she's not alone! Steven, homeworld is not what it used to be. Everything here is so advanced, I can't even understand it! There's no way anything on Earth can stand up to it! Please, don't put up a fight. It will only lead to devastation!" She heard footsteps approaching her room, so she quickly sent the video. Now she just needed Steven to actually get the message!_

 _A hand gripped her shoulder and forcefully turned her around. Jasper. "You just had to cause trouble huh?" she asked, summoning her helmet._

 _Lapis looked up at the homeworld gem helplessly, as Jasper raised an arm, ready to punch…_

Lapis shook her head, trying to forget the experience. She knew she never would though. She just felt bad Steven would now have to live with his own horrible memories from now on. Steven didn't deserve any of it. Why did such bad things happen to such a sweet kid? If she could go back in time, she would've been there. She would've been there to stop them from taking him. Heck, it should've been her overall. She should've been the one they took. She's a full gem! She could've handled it! She didn't care about what would've happened to her, she just hated Steven being the one to take the fall.

Taking in a few deep breaths, she looked out on the horizon. The moon light reflected off of the abnormally calm ocean. It almost looked like there was two full moons out. She exhaled and knew it was probably time to go back inside. Hopping off the roof, she landed on the porch swiftly. Then she opened the door and entered.

Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet were standing near the kitchen. Garnet was leaning on the counter, while Amethyst was sitting on the stool. Pearl stood in front of both of them casually. When they heard Lapis entering, they stopped their hushed conversation. Pearl put a finger to her lips and pointed at Steven's bed. He was asleep. Lapis nodded and quietly tip-toed to them. "How's he doing?" she whispered.

"Good. He just got to sleep." Pearl whispered back.

"Poor kid was exhausted." Amethyst commented.

"I can only imagine. I wonder how much sleep he actually got." Lapis thought aloud.

"Probably not a lot." Pearl concluded. They glanced at the sleeping boy. He looked so peaceful, so content. Pearl missed watching Steven sleep while he was gone. She knew he didn't like it, but sometimes she couldn't help herself.

After a few moments in silence, Pearl sighed and turned back to the blue gem. "Listen Lapis, we were talking and well... We all owe you an apology." she admitted. She glimsped at Amethyst, motioning for her to say something. Amethyst didn't pick up on it, so Pearl nudged her forward roughly instead. "Oof! Oh- Um, yeah. Sorry for saying it was your fault Steven got kidnapped. I know it actually wasn't. I was just... mad." the purple gem confessed.

Pearl nodded, "Me too. We were all... On edge and very stressed out. We shouldn't have put so much pressure on you."

"Good job today. We wouldn't have saved Steven without you." Garnet smiled. Lapis returned the smile. "It's okay. I haven't been the easiest gem to cooperate with either. But we got Steven back for good now and that's all that matters, right?"

"Right." confirmed Pearl.

"But can I just say, the way you broke the ceiling in the temple? That was awesome." Amethyst complemented. Lapis laughed a little. "Thanks."

The gems spent the rest of the night talking and laughing quietly, trying not to wake Steven. It seemed like from now on, things were only going to get better.

* * *

 **A/N: Don't worry. The next chapter Steven's going to be reunited with the rest of Beach City! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes then don't be afraid to click that review button! I love hearing feedback from you guys! It's awesome! With that, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay I'm trying my best to keep up with updates, so I'm literally posting this chapter in the airport. Yep I'm on my way home now! Updates should be more frequent when I get back. I know I'll definitely have more time for writing! But for now, chapter 15!**

* * *

Steven opened his eyes and sat up slowly, drowsiness still clouded his mind. Ugh. How long was he asleep? It felt like he was asleep for a month, but that couldn't be right. He didn't even remember going to bed. Yawning and rubbing his eye, he looked around him. He wasn't in bed. He was… He didn't know where he was. Strange. There was nothing but darkness. Where was he? Steven had never seen this place before. Where ever he was, it felt cold and empty. He carefully stood up.

"Hello?" Steven called into the darkness. A slight echo was heard, but there was no reply. Steven decided to shrug this off, and started walking forward. He had no idea where he was going, but standing there wasn't going to solve anything. He needed to figure out where he was, and how to get out of there. He continued walking blindly ahead, hoping his eyes would adjust to the shadowy atmosphere, but nothing. Steven decided to try calling again, "Hello? Is anybody here?"

"You."

A voice boomed throughout the room. It sounded like it came from behind him, but when he turned around no one was there. Steven kept looking around him. Above, below, side to side. No one. "Who's there?" he asked.

"What? Already forgotten me? Pity. I thought I left more of an _impact._ "

"What do you mean? Show yourself!" Steven commanded, trying to sound brave.

"As you wish…" In front of him, a shadow approached. It looked tall, muscular, and had long hair. Steven's stomach sank as the realization of who it was. " _Jasper._ " he whispered when she stepped forward. She gave a malevolent grin. Steven realized that she was going to try and capture him again, so he quickly turned around and ran as fast as he could. He heard thumping footsteps behind him, indicating she was running after him. He tried not to look behind, but curiosity got the best of him. She was close, and was advancing toward him more and more. Steven soon regretted his choice about looking behind him when he ran into someone very roughly. Peridot.

Quickly, Peridot grabbed Steven and held him up by his shirt collar, suspending him. Jasper caught up them and smirked. "Nice work."

Steven started panicking, as he struggled to get away. Jasper laughed as she watched him squirm in Peridot's grasp. "Don't think can get away so easily. Now that you're back, we're going to make sure that you never see the light of day again!" she finished her threat as the room suddenly started to change. The darkness didn't go away, however the whole area became the underwater temple again. This was impossible! Lapis destroyed the temple! It can't suddenly reappear again! But it did, and everything in it. The cage was back, the escape pod was back, and worst of all, the Spinel was back. Jasper took Steven from Peridot by grabbing his neck. "Let's finish what we've started shall we? And this time, your precious Crystal Gems won't be there to save you!" She grinned wickedly and extended a hand behind her, as if presenting something. On the floor laid 5 gems. A ruby, a sapphire, an amethyst, a pearl, and a lapis lazuli. They were all broken in half.

"No… no!" Steven couldn't believe what he was seeing. His friends were gone. There was no denying that those were their gems. And they were all broken!

Jasper then brought her face very close to his. "Now you see what happens when you cross with me? Now you all have to pay the price!" She started hauling him over to the Spinel, ready to finish him off once and for all…

* * *

"Wake up!"

Steven awoke with a start as he saw Amethyst sitting on top of him, really close to his face. Still in shock from his dream, he yelped and summoned his shield, shoving the purple gem off of him.

"Ow!" Amethyst exclaimed as she hit the floor. "What the heck dude?! It's only me!"

"A-amethyst?" Steven took a moment to register what just happened. He was now standing on his bed, in a fighting stance, with his pink shield out. Oh jeez. He just hit Amethyst in the face with his shield. For no reason. Well at least he knew it was working again. He then noticed a very surprised Pearl, Garnet and Lapis standing downstairs in the living room. They had just watched the whole ordeal. He laughed awkwardly and helped Amethyst up. "Heh. Sorry about that…"

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked, confused by Steven's actions.

"Y-yeah! I'm fine! I just… Don't think I wanna have Amethyst scaring me awake like that. At least for a while." Steven said meekly, deciding not to mention his dream.

"I told you, you shouldn't have woken him up!" Pearl scolded the purple gem. She rolled her eyes. "Not my fault Sleeping Beauty over here slept in so late!"

"Slept in? Sleeping Beauty?" Steven looked at the clock. "2:00 in the afternoon?! How long was I asleep?!"

"About 16 hours." Pearl calculated.

"You were exhausted." Garnet stated.

Steven shook his head as he went to his closet. Pulling out a clean shirt and jeans, he quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his usual outfit. It felt good to finally be in real clothes again. Unlike his torn up and dirty attire he had while trapped.

Steven then started heading for the door, ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Lapis asked.

"It's been almost a week since I had a donut! I'm going to go get a… late lunch I guess? Uh, later!"

"You sure you don't want any of us to go with you?" Pearl asked, hesitant to let him out of her sight.

"I'll be fine Pearl! I'm just going into town! Oh, and I think I'll be with Dad the rest of the afternoon. See ya guys!"

"Wait, what about your-" Pearl started, but Steven had already left the house. "-fencing lesson with Connie…" she finished. She sighed as she watched him leave. Garnet put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine. He needs to see his father and friends." Garnet reasoned. Pearl nodded in understanding. "I just don't want him to get hurt again. He's been through too much."

"What's the worst that can happen?" Lapis asked.

None of the gems answered. Instead they all thought about the monsters they've encountered _here_ on the beach. A giant crab, a giant sea worm, a Centipeetle mother, a slinker… There was a good chance Steven was doomed.

"So… how much do you think Greg will freak out when he sees Steven again?" Amethyst asked, deciding to change the subject.

Pearl laughed a little. "Probably a lot." The rest of the group laughed. They were overreacting. Steven was going to be fine.

* * *

Steven smiled as he walked down by the shore, heading into Beach City. In reality, he'd only been gone about 6 days. But to him it felt like forever. It wasn't until now that he thought about how much he missed. He missed his beach and the warm sea breeze. He missed the bright sun in the sky. Most important, he missed all his friends in town. Steven wondered if anyone noticed he disappeared. Did Lars and Sadie notice he didn't come in for a donut like usual? Did the Fryman's realize he hadn't stopped by for some bits? Did his dad or Connie even know he'd been kidnapped? Surely the gem's told them… right? He'd soon find out.

Walking on the main road, he looked at all the buildings he passed. The U-Stor, Sam's Suitcases, Classic Thyme, and ahead of him, the Big Donut. Awesome! Donut time!

Steven entered the shop and the door dinged. "Hey guys!"

Sadie and Lars looked up when he walked in, and Sadie visibly perked up. "Steven! You're back!" Steven smiled up at the teen as Lars did a small scoff. "Great." he said rolling his eyes.

"Don't be rude! You missed him!" Sadie chided.

"I did not!" Lars said defensively, crossing his arms. Sadie laughed. She turned back to the boy. "So where have you been? We haven't seen you for a while. More gem stuff?"

Steven scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. You could say that." he then cleared his throat. "Anyways, can I just get the usual please?"

"Comin right up!" Sadie said cheerfully, grabbing a bag for the donuts.

"Thanks!" Steven said, putting his money on the counter.

Lars eyed Steven suspiciously. Usually, he'd be going on and on about the latest adventure where they slayed big gem monster! But this time he was quiet. A little too quiet. Steven noticed Lars' searching eyes as he adjusted his shirt collar uncomfortably. Lars' eyes widened."Woah man, what is that!?"

Steven halted, confused at what Lars was referring to. "...What is what?"

Lars pointed at a spot on his neck. " _That!_ " Sadie brought over the donuts and put Steven's money in the cash register. She then inspected what Lars was freaking out about. She gasped, "Oh my gosh! Steven!"

"What? What is it?!" Steven looked in the glass of the big donut case, seeing his reflection. On the side of his neck, there was a long, very light pink scar. A scar left behind from one of his more serious burns. "O-oh that. Don't worry about it. Just some, uh… cool battle damage!" Steven tried to make light of it. Lars and Sadie continued to stare at him in shock. " _Just_ some battle damage? What kind of fight did you get into Steven?" Lars asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Nothing! Really! I'm fine! It doesn't hurt anymore, honestly!" Steven tried to convince them, but their expressions wouldn't go away."Okay, I maybe kinda sorta… gotkidnappedbyevilgems…" He admitted quickly.

"You what!?" Lars and Sadie said at the same time. Steven sighed. "I was kidnapped by evil gems."

"And they did that to you?" Sadie asked, worried.

"Well, yeah. But nothing I couldn't handle! I'm okay you guys. Seriously!"

Lars shook his head. "Dang man, you're one tough kid."

"Really?" Steven asked amazed. It was very rare that he ever got a compliment from Lars.

"Yeah." Lars lifted a hand, offering a high-five. Steven laughed and accepted it. "Now you got some sweet battle scars bro."

"And they didn't come from a rock!" Sadie added smiling. Steven grabbed the bag of donuts, still laughing as he waved goodbye and left the shop. Lars and Sadie looked on as the boy left.

"Think he's gonna be okay?" Lars asked Sadie. She sighed. "I sure hope so."

As Steven stepped outside, he breathed in a deep breath. All that worrying from a small scar? It wasn't even that noticeable… was it? Steven pulled up his shirt collar a bit, hoping to cover it entirely. Maybe his dad won't notice it when he visits. Greg didn't need to know the details of what happened. Neither did Connie for that matter. There was no way Steven was telling either of them about this.

Steven pulled out a jelly-filled donut from the bag and started eating it. He was starved. Smiling happily, he continued eating and making his way to his dad's car wash. Overall, it was a calm day. Nothing really exciting was going on. Just the regular town citizens going about their business.

"Hey Steven!" someone called. Steven heard a car roll up behind him as he turned around. He saw the pizza delivery car with Jenny, Sour Cream and Buck Dewey in it. "Oh, hey guys!" Steven replied.

"We realized you've been out of the picture for a while man." Sour Cream commented.

"Yeah, we wanted to know if you wanted to come with us for a little ride!" said Jenny.

"Where are you guys driving to?" Steven asked.

"Nowhere. We decided to go with the flow. We're letting a road drive _us._ " Buck explained. Steven scratched his head, "I don't think that's how driving works…"

"Driving works how it wants to work." Buck said, very serious. He made Steven slightly uncomfortable. Were all teenagers like this?

"Why should it even matter where we're going? We're _going_ to have fun!" Jenny said, returning to the subject. "Soo, you coming with us?" she asked.

Steven looked at them apologetically. "Sorry guys! I'm actually on my way to my dad's. I was going to spend the day with him."

"I find your Father-Son relationship both adorable and naive." Buck shrugged. "But whatever floats your boat."

Sour Cream rolled his eyes, "I hate boats."

"Maybe next time then!" Jenny called as she started driving away. Steven waved goodbye to them as they left. What the heck does naive mean?

Steven shrugged it off as he kept walking. He was almost at his dad's car wash. It'd take him forever to get there though if people kept stopping him for a conversation. But it felt nice, having people notice his leave of absence. He wasn't extremely close with the cool kids, or even Lars and Sadie for that matter, and they all mentioned his disappearance. Guess that's what happens when you live in a city of only 20 people. People notice you're gone.

Finally, Steven approached the car wash. Outside, Greg was washing his van in silence. Steven paused a moment and observed his dad. Greg's back was facing towards him, so he couldn't see his face, but his dad's body language radiated with defeat. He looked very tired and worn down, and he seemed really stressed out.

Steven could only assume that his father's appearance was because of his kidnapping. That much worrying and stress wasn't healthy at all. Steven had to cheer him up. He looked around saw the extra water hose that he often used when helping his dad with car washes. He snuck over and picked it up, careful not to be seen or heard by Greg. Trying to stifle his laughter of anticipation, Steven aimed the hose at his old man and pulled the trigger.

Greg yelled out in shock when he felt the cold water hit him. "Hey! What the- cut it out!" He exclaimed, trying to block the water with his hand. Steven stopped the water and started laughing. "Oh c'mon dad! You used to love our water fights!"

Greg froze when he realized whose voice that was. He turned and saw his son standing there with a hose in one hand, and a bag of donuts in the other. He was giggling.

"Steven!" Greg cried as he ran over to his son. He picked him up and hugged him real tight. So tight that Steven couldn't even breathe for a second, but he didn't stop his dad and instead just hugged him back. "I've missed you so much! I've been so worried about you!" said Greg.

"I've missed you too." Steven said sincerely.

Greg did eventually set him down. "Are you okay!? The Gems said Jasper kidnapped you and that they had no idea where you were and they didn't know if you were hurt or not. Please tell me you're not hurt!"

Steven chuckled, "Dad! I'm okay! Really! They didn't hurt me." he lied.

Greg sighed in relief and hugged him again. "Thank goodness!" Steven smiled as he relished the feeling of being back home with his dad. When he was released from the embrace, Steven held up the bag. "I brought donuts!" he proclaimed proudly. Greg laughed and gave his son a noogie. "Come here sch'tooball!" Steven grabbed his dad's arm, laughing along with him. "Help me finish washing up the van, then we can share those donuts." Greg said. Steven nodded and grabbed the hose again.

* * *

Later they were sitting in the van with empty Big Donut bag. Greg was playing his guitar as Steven sat across from him, listening.

"So tell me, they just kidnapped you and… Didn't lay a hand on you? That doesn't seem like something the home world gems would do…" Greg wondered, still picking at his guitar.

"Uh, they tried I guess. But I had mom's shield to protect me! So they never got the chance! Heh." Steven lied. He didn't like to deceive his father, but it was for his best interest. He was healed now, and he doesn't have to give his dad a heart attack. Problem solved.

"Huh. Then I guess it's a good thing you got a hang of that shield! Do you use it a lot in battle?"

"Yeah I train with it all the time! Me and Connie- Oh!" Steven had forgotten. Today was usually when Connie would come over for a fencing lesson! "What time is it?"

Greg checked his watch. "3:45. Why? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, uh I forgot. I have a fencing lesson with Connie today!" Steven explained.

"Oh! You'd better get going then! I'm sure she wants to see you." Greg said, ushering him out of the van.

"Sorry I have to leave so soon dad."

Greg shook his head, "Nah it's fine! I still got to spend time with you. And hey, if you want we can go out for some fish stew pizza tomorrow."

Steven gave his dad one final hug, "You got it! Bye!" he waved as he started heading home. If he was quick he might be able to make it. Even though he was already 15 minutes late.

As Steven ran through town, he was going over what he'd tell Connie. Maybe Connie didn't even know that he was gone! Maybe she'd ignore that fact he hasn't contacted her all week... which was really unlike him. Well if she knew, Steven would keep the story short and simple. He was kidnapped, he's back, and he's fine. No harm done. However, if she didn't know, then there was really no point in telling her anything. No need to make her frantic over nothing.

Connie was walking on the shoreline, heading to Steven's house. Her fencing bag was slung over one shoulder and she held a water bottle in her other hand. She knew she was going to be late for the lesson, but she really didn't care. In fact, she wasn't even planning on going at all today. Practice was no fun without her jam bud. But she knew she had to keep up the work though. Steven was gone and if she ever needed to fight for him, she would need to be at the top of her game.

She sighed heavily. Maybe they'd find him soon. That was a possibility right? Maybe they've figured out where he is right now. Then he'll be home again and things could go back to the way they were… Or maybe he's far far away somewhere where it's cold, dark and dangerous. Maybe he's seriously hurt right now. Maybe he's dead…

Connie shook her head as she tried not to think too hard about it. She had already worried herself sick and cried enough. She'll ask the gems about any updates on finding him. But until then, she needed to focus on something else. She thought back to the day she first met that Steven Universe. He had gotten them both trapped inside a bubble, got them stuck at the bottom of the ocean, and he even kicked her in the face... Then he gave her the glow stick bracelet, wanting to be friends. To this day, she couldn't believe he had saved her cheap bracelet in a freezer for over a year. Just so he could return it. It was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for her.

"Connie!" a voice called. Great, now she was hearing his voice inside her head. She ignored it and continued walking.

"Connie! Hey! Wait up!" She stopped and turned when she heard footsteps catching up behind her. She froze when she realized it wasn't her imagination at all.

"Steven?"

He stopped running and stood in front of her, panting. She dropped her fencing bag and water bottle on the sand. They stood a few feet apart, just staring. Connie couldn't believe it. It was almost like her friend was back from the dead. But he was okay. There wasn't a scratch on him! She couldn't contain her happiness and excitement anymore, and she ran full force into Steven, almost knocking him over. She hugged him tightly, as if letting go would make him disappear. Steven smiled and hugged her back, realizing just how much he had missed her. Connie let out a wavering breath of relief, close to tears. "I'm so happy you're back." she whispered.

"Me too." Steven agreed. He could tell that the gems _did_ in fact tell his friend about his kidnapping. He knew he was probably going to have to answer a lot of questions by now. As if on cue, Connie released him. "What happened? When did you get back? Why didn't you call me!? You have no idea how worried I was!"

"I think I have a bit of an idea." Steven looked at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner. I only came home last night, and I had a lot on my mind as you can probably imagine."

"And you're okay? You're not hurt?"

Steven shook his head. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"It's you Steven. I have to worry." Connie joked. Steven laughed. Connie smiled and she hugged him again. "I'm so glad you're okay. I didn't wanna lose my only friend."

"It's going to take more than a few stupid home world gems to get rid of me." Steven said confidently.

Connie chuckled at that. "I should've known! Jasper doesn't stand a chance against you!" she said, giving him a light shove. She then realized the time. "Oh my gosh! Our fencing lesson!" Connie picked up her bag and water bottle before looking over her shoulder at him. "C'mon! Last on there's a rotten egg!"

"Ah! I don't wanna be a rotten egg! Wait up!" Steven said running after her. The whole time they raced each other back to the house, they were laughing.

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaand I'll pick this up where it left off in the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed! This was the longest chapter I've written so far, so I hope it suited your guys' fancy :) If you have any questions/comments/suggestion/ideas/jokes then don't be afraid to click that review button! Stay awesome and I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm going to keep this brief because I want you guys to get to the story already. Chapter 16! Please enjoy!**

* * *

 _A few days earlier..._

Jasper was pacing around, fuming. She was trying to think of some way, _any_ way to get back at those Crystal Gems! They destroyed their work, and their way of getting the upper hand! He should've taken that runts powers away sooner. Should've killed him in that dream too! But can't change that now. All they had left were their clusters, but they haven't even hatched yet. They're useless, and they needed revenge _now._

Peridot, updating her log, rolled her eyes. "Would you stop pacing already? I'm trying to work here!"

Jasper stopped. "Oh please! I'm over here trying to figure out some attack strategies, while you're writing in your diary!" She quipped back and continued pacing.

"Correction: This is a log!"

"My mistake! You're a big help!"

Peridot grumbled in frustration. "I'm keeping track of the cluster's growth rate and find ways to speed up the process! This is just as important!"

"And where are the results, huh!? I'm not seeing any giant gem fusions! All I see are giant hunks of rock!" Jasper punched a wall as hard as she could, shaking the ground. Peridot jumped slightly and sighed. Her partner has some serious anger issues. "You know, showing physical violence to cave architecture isn't going to do anything."

Suddenly, a slight rumbling noise came from behind them. A cluster. The rock it was incubating in was breaking apart. Suddenly, a large gem monster with seven multi-colored arms and legs broke free, screeching. It must've been the size of a van. Peridot and Jasper watched in amazement. It was done. This one was ready! Jasper went up to the creature, admiring it's size and obvious strength. The fusion shrieked and hissed at the home world gem, backing away. Peridot quickly started typing in her log. "Week 3, day 6. First cluster hatched. Showing signs of hostility and anxiety…"

Jasper grabbed a leather whip and summoned her helmet. "Looks like we've got our first recruit. Time to train this thing to fight." She smiled devilishly. The Crystal Gems didn't stand a chance…

* * *

 _Present…_

Steven stood in front of the bathroom mirror, observing his neck. Something strange was going on. Shortly after Lars had pointed out the large wound, Steven realized that it wasn't from something he got while kidnapped. It even felt tender and sore when he touched it. Last week he had made it his goal to keep his scar hidden from everyone, but now it looked like he didn't need to. His scar was gone! That couldn't be possible! Could it? Wounds heal, but disfigurements like that don't! What happened? Did he hit it on something and not realize it? That didn't make sense. Was there an injury that his mother's healing tears didn't fix? That didn't make much sense either. He was just glad he didn't have to continue trying to hide it any longer. He was able to keep Connie from seeing it during their fencing lesson and his dad never noticed it either. Well, now they never will.

Steven walked out of the bathroom and saw the Gems in the living room, studying that darned map again. They've spent all their time searching for Jasper and Peridot ever since he came back. They never did anything fun anymore. Just missions. And not the cool missions where they fought stuff. Just search missions. One night, he had stayed behind to rest while they all searched. They didn't come back until the next day. They did the same thing last night too. Steven felt that they either needed to find the sneaky home world gems soon, or the Crystal Gems would go crazy with exhaustion.

Steven approached the gems and sat beside Pearl on the couch, sighing.

"Okay, so we've checked 56 gem locations so far! That's a good start!" Lapis commented optimistically.

"Hm. We've still got 67 other locations to check." Garnet stated. Amethyst groaned. "Ugh! How big is this planet?!"

"Oh, this is nothing. There are many more gem places back on home world! From what I remember it's closer to 500 locations I think…" Pearl mused.

"Like I'd ever know that…" Amethyst said to herself, reminded of the Kindergarten. Pearl heard the sly comment, and cleared her throat. Avoiding the subject, she continued. "You don't suppose we could try the Forsterite Falls? There's a cave behind the waterfall, and it's big enough to hide a bunch of bubbled gems."

"Could work." Garnet thought.

"Hmm, the warp pad there has been inactive for some time now though. Steven, can you go get Lion? We're going to have to use him if we want to check the falls."

Steven exhaled, "Okay." he said as he went outside to go get his furry friend. When he returned, the gems continued their rather stressful debate on where the home world gems could be. Steven watched them, as he took note of their slouched shoulders and sluggishness. Steven led Lion into the living room. "Don't you think you deserve a break? We've done all we can so far. Maybe if we clear our minds and relax a little, we'll be more ready to fight when we find Jasper and Peridot!"

The gems looked at each other, silently debating an answer. Amethyst spoke out. "That's not going to happen."

"What? Why not?" Steven whined.

"We're not going to give Jasper and Peridot the chance to attack us off-guard. We have to catch _them_ first. Besides, that moment could be any moment. They know where we live." Garnet explained.

"So you're saying you're going to constantly look for them just so you can fight, even if it means exhausting yourselves to the point where you won't be able to fight."

"No, that's not what we're saying at all. You're twisting our words." Pearl argued.

"But that's what it looks like! You guys can't be on top of your game if you're always _in_ the game!" Steven pointed out.

"Wait, what game is this?" Lapis asked, confused.

"Steven, we get all our energy from our gems. We don't need to 'take breaks' like humans do. We can handle it." Pearl said, trying to convince the young boy.

"But even gems have their limits, don't they?"

The group went silent for a moment. That was deep. Steven may be only a boy, but he did know what the gems needed. When they were about to give in, Garnet put a hand to her head, gasping.

"Woah Garnet, you okay?" Amethyst asked.

"Garnet? Is it a vision? What do you see?" Pearl asked anxiously.

"Gems. We need to get to the Battlefield. Now." The stoic gem stated when the vision was over. They all followed her on to the warp pad, confused. Steven was slightly exasperated. What was it this time? Maybe it was an actual monster. Something fun to do! Whatever it was, he hoped they'd get it done soon. The sun was about to go down. Seeing the warp pad slightly crowded, Steven looked at his pet lion. "I think I'll meet you guys there!" he said, mounting his pink friend.

The gems gave a nod in agreement and left. Steven climbed aboard and gripped Lion's mane. "Okay Lion, let's follow them."

Lion roared and opened a vortex, or a 'roar-tex' as Steven liked to call it, that led them to the battlefield. Steven whooped as Lion jumped through this magical spiral. He hadn't done this in a while! He and Lion should go on adventures together more often.

When the bright light disappeared the gems looked around, Steven close behind on his pet. Nothing suspicious here. It was just an old battle field. The same one they came to before, littered with old gem weapons and wild strawberries. Oh, and butterflies.

"What was so important that we had to come here?" Amethyst asked. Garnet didn't say anything as she pointed in one direction. "This way."

The others looked at each other with confusion, but followed Garnet further into the Battlefield. This was really strange. Why wouldn't Garnet just tell them what she saw? What are they going to do? Retrieve a gem artifact? Fight a corrupted gem? Garnet wouldn't be this discrete if so. She didn't see Jasper… right?

"Why are we looking here? We've already searched this place. Wouldn't it be easier if you just told us what happened?" Pearl asked.

Garnet suddenly stopped in her tracks. "I was hoping this wouldn't happen." she bluntly stated.

"What? What's wrong?" Pearl asked, worried.

"That." Garnet pointed in the distance. Steven hopped off Lion, and was bewildered at what he saw. Two gem figures were heading their way. And behind them, a monster.

"Oh no…" Amethyst whispered. Lapis stood there, mouth open. A look of complete shock written on her face. "I-is that…" she couldn't get her actual question out.

"A fusion." Garnet replied, knowing what she was trying to ask. Amethyst and Pearl were surprised too. They'd never seen a cluster that big before. They had only seen the small hands and feet ones in the Kindergarten. But Steven and Garnet had already seen something just like this. The tall gem took a deep breath in, trying to control herself. Now was not the time to get emotional about this. Or even worse, _unfuse_ over this.

"Alright gems, listen up. That cluster over there is big. However, it's not able to fight. Fusions forced together like that are unstable, clumsy and coarse. It should be easy to destroy. Luck's on our side, they've only got one."

"Umm, guess again…" Amethyst said, pointing.

Garnet turned, and the rest of the gems watched with horror. About ten or fifteen more clusters followed and became easier to see as they got closer and closer. They all had varying colors of limbs, and some even had other body parts like eyes and mouths. Steven swallowed. Things just got a lot harder.

Garnet turned back to them, unfazed. "Here's the plan. Just fight. We need to destroy all the clusters. The more fusions we can get rid of, the less of an army they'll have."

The gems nodded in agreement as they summoned their weapons. Lapis summoned her wings and grabbed a sword from the ground. Maybe she could do some overhead attacks. Garnet summoned her gauntlets as she turned back to the approaching clusters. "Let's end this." she said confidently.

Steven reached into Lion's mane and retrieved Rose's sword. Pearl had taught him about sword fighting with Connie of course, but he was better with his shield. He also never used his mom's sword before. But now was as good a time as any to use it. Pearl looked over at the boy, who was staring at Rose's sword in awe and determination. She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "You remind me of her so much."

Steven smiled back, as he hopped back onto Lion, prepared to fight. Jasper and Peridot were almost right in front of them now, the clusters screeching loudly as they followed behind. Jasper stopped and looked at them smugly. "Well, _Crystal Gems._ It looks like you're out numbered. Do you surrender now, or do I have to teach you all a lesson first?"

"How about a third option?" Garnet asked.

"Yeah! One that involves us kicking your butt!" Steven yelled sticking his tongue out.

Jasper and Peridot laughed. "As if! You clods don't stand a chance!" Peridot stated.

"Pssh! You're the clod, you clod!" Amethyst quipped back. Pearl rolled her eyes. That was a terrible comeback. "We're here to protect this planet from gems like you, and take your monsters down as well!"

Jasper huffed. "Good luck with that!" She turned around, "Clusters, attack!"

"Gems, go!" Garnet commanded and they all jumped into action. Garnet sprung full force at one gem monster. It shrieked and used a green hand to block her punch. She was pushed backwards roughly, but she swiftly landed on her feet. She threw another punch as hard as she could, however her gauntlet was kicked away by a yellow foot. What was going on? The cluster she had poofed before at the Kindergarten was in no way coordinated like this! It wasn't even capable of inflicting brute force. Yet this one somehow was, and it screeched as it tried to grab the tall gem. However Garnet jumped away and continued to punch and kick it as much as possible.

Pearl ran up to one cluster and drew her spear back, aiming to kill. She threw her spear as hard as she could, but the cluster caught it with a pink hand as easily as if catching a ball. The same hand threw Pearl's own spear back at her, and Pearl barely ducked out of the way. Generating another spear, she started trying to swing at the multi-colored limbs. The arms and legs thrashed about, and continuously knocked Pearl's spears out of her hands, making her exceedingly frustrated. She even tried jabbing one of the green eyes staring at her, but to no avail.

Amethyst wasn't having an easier fight. She was using her whip to throw heavy rocks and even some large axes at the beast, however nothing was taking effect. The cluster used a purple leg to kick the rocks back toward her, and used it's hands to catch axes. With each strike Amethyst threw, the cluster would throw back more and would continue to try and grab her. The purple gem finally had the idea to tie up the limbs of the cluster. Grabbing hold of three arms and two legs, Amethyst smiled to herself. Piece of cake. Then, the cluster screeched and broke her whip, freeing itself. Amethyst growled in anger and summoned two more whips.

Steven held onto Lion's mane as his pet ran up to another cluster. Lion roared at it, trying to weaken its defenses. It shrieked loudly and showed no sign of decreasing strength. Steven swung his mom's pink sword at an arm, and used his shield to block any blows the beast tried to swing at him. A green leg kicked Lion, making Steven fall off of his pet. Quickly getting up from the ground, Steven started hitting an arm that tried to grab him with his sword, and trying to jab an eye every once in a while. Lion got up and started biting the leg that kicked him.

Lapis was flying up in the air, circling one cluster. The monster used a red and an orange arm to swat at her, like a fly. She tried distracting it best she could so she could swoop in and stab it with the sword, but to no avail. The fusion saw each of her moves coming, and was able to block it, and try to grab her again. Nothing was working for either side.

The fight continued getting more and more intense as more and more clusters were joining in on the fight. Each gem was fighting off at least three fusions at a time. It was becoming increasingly difficult for each gem to keep wrestling with these monsters, especially at their condition. Steven was right all along. They were almost too tired to keep going on anymore.

Jasper and Peridot were watching the fight idly from behind. Everything was going perfect. The Crystal Gems were losing. They had the upper hand! They were going to win!

With the gems draining energy, and a fight that was seemingly going no where, they all felt like there was no chance of winning. They either run or surrender. That was until Lapis flew down close to one cluster and aimed for the disfigured looking gem with her sword. It hit exactly in the center of the fused gems, and it broke. The monster poofed away, and all that was left were broken gem shards. All separated. These fusions were so fragile, that hitting their gems would unfuse them. Yet they were all focused on hitting limbs and poking eyes that they didn't realize it.

"Guys! Guys! Start aiming for the fused gems! They'll break!" Lapis shouted to her teammates, holding up the extra gem shards found.

When Garnet heard this, she looked at one cluster and kicked and punched some limbs away before seeing an opening. She punched the monsters gem hard, before it poofed and left a couple of broken shards left. Garnet quickly tried this on the other two fusions she'd been fighting off, and got the same results with them.

Steven, Pearl and Amethyst watched from a side-view and saw that this plan was working. They all started jabbing, whipping and stabbing the cluster's gems. Eventually getting more and more monsters to fall.

Jasper was shocked to realize that they had figured out how to destroy her army. This can't happen! She wouldn't allow it. "Only way to do this right, is by doing it myself!" She didn't want to have to fight today, but she had no choice. She saw Steven struggling slightly to stab a monster's gem. She smiled evilly and summoned a helmet, charging him. The latter wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. He was too busy fighting a huge, car-sized gem fusion. She was getting closer, and she raised an arm preparing to punch him. However, another arm punched Jasper square in the jaw, throwing her off. Jasper rubbed the sore spot on her face and saw that Garnet had attacked her. Great. This again. She just counted her blessings that Garnet was already weakened, and tired from fighting already.

Amethyst finished off her last cluster and smiled. That was over. At least for now. She then saw Peridot standing to the side, watching the battle with shock and anger. How could they all of a sudden start winning so easily?! Amethyst pulled out another whip and advanced toward the home world gem. Before Peridot could even react, she was tied up in Amethyst's whip… again. "Gee, you're really bad at fighting aren't you?" the purple gem commented, gloating. Peridot grumbled angrily, hating being tied up.

Pearl dodged a hand and threw her spear into the monster's gem. Just like all the other ones, it shattered. Pearl tried picking up all the pieces, until she noticed Steven still struggling with one last fusion. She instead pulled out another spear and helped him out. Together they both poofed one of the last clusters. They looked up, and saw Lapis taking care of the very last one. "Go Lapis! You can do it!"

Lapis flew a good distance away from the fusion. Time to end this once and for all. She started flying down full speed, sword ready to cut through the fused gems. However she halted when she noticed something. One arm extending out trying to grab her looked awfully familiar. A thin and graceful sky blue arm, swatting at her. Lapis looked at the awful mess of a fused gem that the monster had. A big, round, light blue gem fragment stuck out on one side. She'd recognize that gem anywhere. "Azurite?!"

Lapis continued to stare in shock, landing on the ground. The cluster advanced toward her, and a few tears escaped her eyes as she stared up at this creature. Hundreds of memories were flooding back to her. Pearl, Steven and Amethyst watched Lapis' reaction in confusion. "Lapis! What are you doing!? Poof it!" Steven yelled at her, but she didn't respond. She seemed millions of miles away. Pearl knew that if neither of them did anything, Lapis could be seriously hurt by the cluster. She ran as quickly as she could to the gem fusion and jumped in front of Lapis, protecting her. Pearl raised her spear and shattered the cluster's gem. Shards flew away from each other and landed on the ground. Lapis was pulled out of her head when the cluster was destroyed, but her alarm was still there.

Garnet and Jasper still fought with all of their might. Neither one could get the upper hand. Throwing some punches, and receiving some back, the wrestle seemed endless. Finally, Garnet gave Jasper one hard shove backwards and Jasper stopped herself from falling. They were both panting. Garnet saw Steven and Pearl backing her up. All the gem fusions were gone. "It's over Jasper. You're clusters are destroyed. Give up!"

"You think those were the only fusions we made?! Those were just the beginning! Get ready Crystal Gems. This fight's nowhere near finished!" Jasper threatened as she decided she needed to retreat. She ran up grabbed Peridot from away Amethyst and jumped high into the air. When she landed, she was only a few feet away from the warp pad. "We'll be back!"

"Stop her!" Garnet commanded, as she tried to stop Jasper before she could get away. But it was too late. When the bright, white light disappeared, they did too. Garnet sighed, exhausted. She looked behind her as Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, Lion, and Lapis walked up behind her. They all seemed just as tired. Especially Lapis, who looked even more distressed.

"We'll get her next time." Garnet stated.

"I don't see how. They got away again! We'll never find them!" Amethyst complained.

"Yes, we will. We'll go search for them again when we can. But right now, let's go home and _rest_." Garnet said, walking back to the warp pad.

Steven exhaled. Good. They could finally relax at home. Steven hopped on Lion, ready to head back, when he lingered by Lapis for another minute. She seemed so shaken up, trails of tears still evident on her face. What happened to her back there? "Lapis, are you okay?"

Lapis sniffed and shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She looked up at him. "Yeah. I'm fine." she wiped away tears and walked onto the warp pad with the rest of the gems. Steven watched them disappear in a shower of light. He could tell she was lying. He just wished he knew why she felt the need to.

Steven smiled and petted Lion's mane. "Hey, good job today pal." he praised. Lion huffed and created another 'roar-tex' to lead them home.

The sun was setting now on the gem battlefield. Orange, yellow, and pink light reflected from the axes and swords sticking out from the ground. As night approached, the peace on this land returned. The only evidence left from their fight was a litter of forgotten gem shards. Including one big, round, light blue gem fragment, lying in the grass.

* * *

 **A/N: Dang I'm proud of that ending. Uh-oh! What's gonna happen? Why did Lapis freak out? All wil be revealed in good time. Hope you enjoyed! If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes then don't be afraid to click that review button! With that, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey guys! Good news: This is an EXTRA long chapter! This one is about 6,000+ words long. This is possible mostly because I didn't write this chapter alone. A fellow writer on this site named Floop'dThePiggy helped me with this one, and let me steal their own original character, Azurite. So without further ado, please enjoy this lengthy BUT dramatic chapter 17!**

* * *

"Hi Mrs. Maheswaran! Is Connie home? …Yes, I'll wait... Hey Connie! Are you busy today? … Awesome! Can you come over? I had this great idea! ... No, I can take care of everything… Yep the gems will be there… Okay! See you soon! Bye!"

Steven slammed the phone down in excitement. Knowing the trouble the gems were in a few days back, Steven knew exaclty what the gems all needed. He had box set up, filled up in an unorganized fashion. He searched through multiple closets, trying to find something that would be fun for the day. He packed a volleyball net and grabbed the multiple water guns. Going back to the unorganized box, he dumped the net and five water guns inside. He put the sixth water gun and a volleyball inside his cheeseburger backpack.

Later, Pearl had walked out of her own room. Stepping out, she glanced at their now repaired door. It's a good thing she and Garnet were able to fix it after the Jasper and Peridot fiasco. There was still a dent in the side though… Sighing softly, she stretched herself out in place. She still felt tired today. Yesterday the gems went back to the battle field and picked up all the broken gems they missed. It took them all day to find each gem shard left behind. It might've gone by faster if Lapis hadn't refused to help them. She was acting really strange lately. But at least Jasper and Peridot can't reuse the gems now.

Pearl suddenly heard clunks and clatters coming from the fridge. Walking over towards where the sound was coming from, she spotted Steven, grabbing multiple items like juice boxes and fruit, packing them all in a basket. "Hello Steven." Pearl greeted. Steven ignored her until the fridge was completely empty of food. "...Hey Pearl!" came the severely delayed greeting. Steven closed the basket and placed it on the coffee table that was by the couch, before he looked around the house for anything else that may be fun for everyone to do. Board games maybe? Oh! Where did he put his deck of cards?

All throughout, Pearl stayed silent as she watched Steven rummaging around for other things. After a few minutes, she finally asked him, "Steven, what exactly are you-"

"Pearl, can you call Amethyst, Garnet, and Lapis?" He said quickly, interrupting her.

"Uhm... Sure." She responded. She entered the gem door again, leaving to find their remaining teammates.

Steven walked to his bedroom and grabbed his ukelele. "Haha! Nothing breaks silence better than music!" He chuckled to himself, grabbing the instrument by its neck as he walked down the steps of his room.

Lapis walked through the front door, towel in hand. Steven perked up as he saw her. "Hey Lapis! Where have you been?"

"Swimming." she replied coldly.

"Oh… Did you have fun?" Steven asked.

Lapis shrugged, "Sure."

"Well guess what? You're about to have even more fun!"

"Huh?" she said, confused. What was he planning?

"-I don't know why. He just asked me to come get you." Pearl explained as she, Amethyst and Garnet were exiting from the gem door.

"Great, you're all here!" Steven exclaimed. Amethyst studied the room. An empty fridge, Steven's full cheeseburger backpack, and box filled with water guns, a net, and a blanket. "Uh, Steven? What's going on?"

"Well, we've all been working really hard lately, and we just fought bunch of fusion gem monsters. So today I thought we'd all go for a picnic!"

"...Why?" Amethyst asked, not seeing the point.

"Because it's fun! And relaxing!"

"How?" Pearl asked.

"Well it's a nice day, sun's out, ocean breeze. That's practically the definition of relaxing! Plus there's going to be food, and games-"

"Food! Aw yeah, sounds good to me!" Amethyst said enthusiastically.

"I don't know Steven. That's very thoughtful, but we still have work to do. We have to at least find out where Jasper and Peridot are hiding before we can enjoy some downtime!" Pearl argued.

"Aww c'mon Pearl!" Steven whined.

Garnet put a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "Steven's right. Constantly running ourselves into the ground isn't helping anything. Let's take the day off."

"Woohoo!" Steven cheered.

"But what if they decide to attack us again today?" Pearl worriedly asked.

"Then my future vision will see it coming, and we'll have the energy to fight again." replied Garnet.

Pearl sighed and gave in, as Lapis scratched the back of her head. "Actually, I think I'll stay behind. You guys have fun." Lapis admitted. Steven frowned, disappointed, "But you have to come with us! It wouldn't be the same without you!"

"I'm just not really in the party mood…" Lapis said.

"You don't have to party. You can just lay on the grass all day! We're all going out to relax, and you need it just as much as we do!"

"Steven, I don't know-"

"Please?" Steven looked up at Lapis with the biggest, starry eyed expression he could give her. Lapis sighed and shook her head. "How can I say no to that face?"

"You can't." Garnet replied, knowingly

Suddenly the door opened up with a small creek. Connie finally arrived inside his house with a book in hand. She spotted Steven and the gems and waved to them with a small smile. "Hey guys!" she greeted.

"Great! Connie's here! Let's go!" Steven said, grabbing his backpack.

* * *

Today was an absolutely sunny day! The wind blew onto all their faces, the grass swayed to the funky flow of the wind, and most importantly, the sun beamed its rays onto the group of seven, ensuring them a bright and successful picnic!

Connie and Steven were far ahead of the Crystal Gems, as they were running towards the lighthouse. Amethyst rode a top of Lion, caressing his mane gently as she looked around her surroundings. Garnet carried the picnic basket, and Pearl carried the box with the sports gear. Lapis did nothing but frown, despite how sunny or enthusiastic everyone is. She watched the group prepare to set up for their little ritual.

"Haha! Come on Connie! Let's get the blanket setup!" Steven cheered, taking out from his cheeseburger backpack the picnic rag, which he held on two ends, and allowed to spread itself in the wind.

Once the rug settled on the ground, it was a wrinkly mess that would have easily drove Pearl insane. Connie rolled her eyes, and walked to the opposite end of the rag. She held both its corners, before spreading it out more until there were no signs of any wrinkles.

"Good to go! What should we do first?" Steven asked the small group.

"Hmm, How do you all feel about playing volley ball?" Connie suggested with a small smile.

Steven reached his hand into his cheeseburger backpack and grabbed his water gun. "Or how about… This!" He said, spraying Connie with water. Connie used her hand to block the water, laughing.

"Alright!" Amethyst cheered grabbing another gun out of the box. She aimed it straight at Pearl and pulled the trigger, soaking her. "Amethyst!" Pearl cried, running away. Amethyst ran after her, cackling.

Steven then turned to Lapis, who was standing off to the side watching. She was smiling sadly at the sight. She seemed wistful. Steven thought she wanted to join in on the fun, so he aimed his gun at her. "Head's up Lapis!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger. Lapis looked up and quickly waved a hand, sending the water flying in the other direction. The water ended up hitting Amethyst instead.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Amethyst complained.

"How is that cheating?" Lapis asked.

"Really? You would automatically win the water fight if you use your water powers!" Amethyst said, crossing her arms with a grumpy look. Steven walked over to the water guns, and picked the rest of them up, cradling them in his hands as he approached Garnet and Pearl.

"If we wanna have a real game of water tag, we'll lay down some rules." Steven simply said as he handed Pearl and Garnet two medium sized water pistols. Lapis' eyes widened all of a sudden, and her eyes began to well up slightly. A memory resurfaced in her head.

 _"C'mon Azurite! Let's play water tag!"_

 _"Really Lapis? You already know you'd win this!"_

 _"Heh. Y-ya don't say...?"_

 _"Well, if I'm going to play, I should at least have some chance of winning against you. So I say we have rules!"_

"Y-yeah... sure thing Azurite..." She murmured, before Steven looked up to her with a curious look. The boy blinked at her, and asked, "Azurite...?" He held out his hand, passing the ocean gem a large water rifle.

Oh no... Not now! Lapis shook her head for a brief moment, taking the water gun before she replied, "Nothing. W-What in the world are you talking about Steven?" She murmured.

"Uhh... Well... nevermind. Like I said, if we'll be doing a water fight, we have to play fair!" Steven said, handing Connie the remaining water pistol. "We cannot use any of our powers. So that means for me, no shield. And that means Lapis can't use her ocean powers!" Steven cheered.

D'aww! I wanted the bigger one!" Amethyst pouted childishly, looking away from him while he carried the water rifle.

"Wait, Steven. Put the basket inside Lion's Mane. Wouldn't want our food to get messed up." Garnet said to him.

"Sure!" Steven simply replied to her, where he immediately took the basket of food, and hopped into his pet's mane. When he jumped back out, he smiled. "Now then. Everyone get into partn-oh... We only have seven people..." Steven murmured out, as he recounted the people around him, including Lion. His mouth quickly began to frown, and he placed a hand on his chin, before looking at Garnet with a cheerful look.

Oh, square momma already knew what Steven had planned. She shook her head, and said, "I'm sure Ruby and Sapphire would love to play, but I'm not splitting up. Besides, I'm already a team." She said with a confident smirk, as she adjusted her shades. Where Steven gave a small nod of approval to Garnet, and said, "Okay then! Pick your teams guys!" He cheered, as Steven ran up to Connie.

"Well... I dunno how much use you'll be big guy..." Amethyst commented as she stepped towards Lion. "Buuuuuuuut... I guess you and I can be a team! Woo!" She cheered, getting back on Lion's back. The pink jungle cat simply yawned, which caused Amethyst to give him an irritated look. "Just be my shield, kay?!" She huffed.

"I suppose that leaves me with you Lapis! Remember to coordinate with me!" Pearl cheered to her. However, Lapis kept on frowning, before she hugged the water cannon, as she then said, "Hey Steven, can I ask something...?"

"Hmm? Yeah Lapis?" Steven asked the ocean gem.

"For one thing... Are these lethal? And second, can I use just one of my powers? Just to fill the weapon up! That's all!" She said. The boy frowned at Lapis, and shook his head, giving a small sigh as he firmly stated, "Sorry Lapis. No powers mean no powers. And for that other question, no."

Even with that tone of his, a small smile crossed her face. "Fine. Then I'm showing no mercy!"

"Alright! Ready? Set? Go!" Steven shouted, and the water battle began. Each team exchanged squirts constantly, and this seemed like a tough fight... Connie used Steven as a human shield, sticking close to him while water fired towards her. The boy was constantly showered by water blasts, while he and Connie coordinated their efforts to staying dry.

Garnet jumped and barrel-rolled out of the way of one squirt, delivered by Amethyst. Garnet aimed back at the purple gem and pulled the trigger. However, Amethyst ducked back behind Lion, and Lion was hit by the water. He growled as a warning, not appreciating getting wet. Amethyst snickered and kept shooting at the tall gem, eventually getting her soaked. Steven saw Amethyst distracted and started squirting back at her. This time she didn't have enough time to duck behind Lion, and she also got wet.

The other team that was still kicking was Lapis and Pearl! The ocean gem did her best to arc her shots over Steven, trying to get Connie, while Pearl acted as Lapis' main defense by cutting away the water shots with her hands. The both of them had a determined face that barked, 'I'm not losing!'

Lapis aimed down Pearl's shoulder, using just her torso as her shield, while Pearl constantly cut the streams of water threatening her own partner. She peeped and winced softly each time she saw close calls for Lapis.

The battle that seemed to never end seemed like a stalemate. At least until Steven accidentally bumped Connie and him down to the ground. This meant a massive opening for Lapis! Pearl gasped happily, and moved away from the ocean gem's line of fire, where she cheered out, "Show her no mercy! Get her soaked!"

"Come on Stev-o! Body block!" Amethyst shouted to them.

Lapis stepped towards the fallen pair, and pointed the weapon to Connie, where she said in a soft voice, "Sorry." Lapis pulled her trigger, only to have it shoot out nothing but air! Connie smiled and had her own water weapon aimed at Lapis. She now had the upper hand. A stream of water blasted the ocean gem on her face, soaking her.

The two humans' eyes sparkled like stars. Immediately, they hugged each other happily, giggling in their place while Connie threw the gun to the side. "Team Stevonnie wins!" Steven cheered.

Garnet smirked, wiping water off of her forehead. "Nice work."

Lapis smiled softly at the celebrating team, stepping back towards Pearl as she chuckled, "Guess we lost." Lapis shrugged off the loss, and gave a small smile towards the two kids that won. She blinked, and for a brief second, two blue, joyful gem figures were hopping up and down, holding hands while they chanted to each other. Lapis could easily see that she was one of the figures, while she spotted the other to be that graceful and happy gem...

She rubbed her eyes quickly, and soon figured she was staring only at Steven and Connie, still chanting their win. Her eyes were deceiving her again. She can't let this get the best of her.

The two kids celebrated happily, holding each other's hands while they jumped in the air. Once they had their excitement vented from their system, the gems and Connie soon gathered around the rug again. Even if they were all wet, they easily shrugged it off. On the other hand, Connie drained her hair of water, and squeezed the lower end of her shirt of water as well.

In the time the gems and Connie relaxed, Steven walked over towards Lion, and jumped back into his mane, before returning into the physical world with his ukelele and basket in hand.

"So guys! What'd ya think?" Steven cheered, setting the picnic basket at the center of the rug, while he checked for the tuning of his uke.

Amethyst's licked her lips, eager to get down and dirty with the picnic. Pearl held her back from mauling the food to death. While they all enjoyed the relaxing sound of the wind and ocean, Lapis looked down in thought, crossing her arms. She looked up at Steven and Connie, laughing and dinking from juice boxes. Those two worked so great as a team. She couldn't help but remember one of her more memorable days with _her_.

* * *

 _In the more lifeless and secluded area of the small homeworld Kindergarten, Azurite and Lapis sat beside each other, the ocean gem sitting on a larger boulder while the sky blue gem sat on the smooth ground. Her legs were criss-crossed and she kept her hand held out, forcing every bit of energy in her body to flow into her hands. Her eyes were kept shut, and Lapis bounced up and down on the rock excitedly, cheering for her while she grunted and struggled._

 _"Come on Azzy...! I know you can do it!" She cheered to her best friend._

 _But even for the seventh try of the day, Azurite failed. Her arm flopped down onto the ground lazily, a sore feeling streaming on her shoulders. Lapis had found her weapon, and had been training for a few months at this point. Why couldn't her best friend do that too? She hasn't gotten much progress for her own personal weapon... From what she knew, she needed focus, and even when she had sharpened her mental focus, it still yielded no results! She even tried deep meditation with Lapis! But as much as she tried, she just couldn't do it..._

 _Azurite pouted softly, and looked away from her friend. Lapis knew that Azurite wasn't happy with her current results. But still, Lapis can easily see a big bright side to this all! She stepped down from her boulder, and placed a hand on the sky gem's shoulder, where she murmured out, "Hey..." Lapis whispered. "Just... Look on the brighter side of things! You still have the potential to have anything! Who knows?! It could be a staff! O-or something like mine! You might be able to control the air! Or even OTHER gems!" She said happily to her._

 _They were comforting words to Azurite's ears, but she still frowned. She stretched her arm out, and twirled her fingers around at random. Looking off towards the more colorful parts of the Kindergarten, the sky blue gem smiled, watching all the other gems play. "You know what? I will get my weapon soon. And... What you say is true." She stated, standing up from her place while she took a deep breath in and squealed out..._

 _"I'm really hoping my weapon is good! Just imagine...! I could be able to create stuff from practically nothing! That, or an Ion Rifle for a weapon! That would be my dream! Just imagine the possibilities!" Azurite laughed, giggling in her place while she jumped up and down happily._

 _"That's it!" Lapis giggled, looking towards her one great friend, where she crossed her arms, and looked to her with a raised brow and a sly smile. Once her enthusiasm passed, Azurite sat down, and began playing with her fingers... She looked over to the clique of gems with a wistful smile, as she stroked her hand across the air, and murmured out to Lapis, "Thank you..."_

 _"Ow...!" One of the unfamiliar voices shouted in pain. The shout caused_ _Azurite_ _to flinch, and turn towards the direction of the voice. The small clique of gems encircled their one friend, seeing as she had fallen over. "Who did that?!" the fallen gem's voice growled angrily at their group._

 _Azurite_ _blinked softly, and looked at her hands, before looking back towards the gathering, where she waved her hand in the air once again, and it sent the lime green gem towards the wall, smashing her body against the rough and rocky surface._

 _"_ _Woah_ _. D-did you see that...?"_ _Azurite_ _asked Lapis._

 _See what? What was she talking about...? The ocean gem walked to her side, and looked at her, clueless as to what she was referring to. Once her sight was redirected towards the lime green gem with awfully crazy white hair, her eyes widened. "What... happened...?" Lapis asked._

 _Azurite_ _was too busy looking down at her hands, before she looked away from the small group and pointed her finger towards a large boulder. It didn't seem to react. She pointed her index finger up into the air, and the boulder also floated into the air. She smiled happily, and giggled happily, before slamming the rock into the ground._

 _"Is this my weapon?! T-these... lines?! It's been these things this whole time?!" Azurite giggled, squealing to her friend before she hugged her tightly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy Azzy! W-what lines?!" Lapis asked while hugging her friend happily._

 _"T-these lines! They're like wires!" She laughed, doing her best to grab something out of the air- which was absolutely nothing. "Don't ya see em?!" she exclaimed. Azurite raised her right hand before she pointed a finger towards Lapis, and wiggled her index finger in front of her. Little did she know, she had sent Lapis flying towards the wall, causing the ocean gem to go poof._

* * *

It was a soft laughter, but that small giggle began to break out into a fit of laugher. Lapis remembered regenerating later that day, and becoming furious with Azurite! She placed a hand to her mouth, as she tried to stop laughing. Everyone soon looked over to Lapis awkwardly, almost as if they had missed some sort of joke...

Steven let out an uncomfortable chuckle, and looked to the ocean gem. "Uhm... Lapis? Are you okay...?" He asked, keeping a forced smile on his face.

Her own laugh gradually fell into an awkward giggle, and she began to sweat bullets, before she asked, "Sure! W-what's up guys...?"

"Uhhhh... What's so funny...?" Amethyst immediately asked her.

Lapis bit down on her lip, and placed a hand to her chest. She needed to get this suspicion off of her! Now! "W-well... Isn't it obvious?! Steven's joke about the pork chops, and the hotdogs..." She lied.

"We weren't talking." Garnet stated.

She bit her lips nervously, and took a deep breath in. She looked at the group, and finally said, "I see. Sorry. I guess the excitement still got me good…"

"Okay. If you say so…" Steven hesitantly said, looking at her in a worried fashion.

Lapis blushed softly, giving a small huff of breath. She mentally kicked herself. She almost blew it! Again! She couldn't let anyone know about this! She didn't want to let anyone get tangled up in her problems… She just had to smile and wave the rest of the time and deal with this later. But she couldn't. As much as she wanted to enjoy this day with Steven and the gems, she couldn't. But how could she? Every single thing reminded her of Azurite! And to make it worse, she just found out her best friend was… She couldn't stand it! How could her friend have been broken?! She couldn't have died! She just couldn't!

But the facts were right in front of her. Azurite's shard was a part of a cluster, and she still felt sick to the core thinking about what they have done to her… She was getting too stressed over this... She needed to get out of here.

"Actually guys, I think... I've gotta go."

"What? Go where?!" Steven asked, confused.

"No where. I mean, somewhere. I just need to go, okay? No need to stop because of me. Go ahead, have fun." Lapis started walking back down the hill. Steven, Connie and the gems were left in a stunned silence.

"Umm what just happened?" Amethyst asked.

"Something must be bothering her." Pearl stated, Amethyst rolled her eyes. "No 'duh' Sherlock!" Pearl grumbled in frustration as Steven watched Lapis getting smaller in the distance. "Is it just me, or has she been acting weird lately?"

"She did just leave for no apparent reason." Connie pointed out.

Steven shook his head, "Besides that. She just seems so… in her head. She's been really strange since the fight. You think there's anyway to help her?"

"She's been through a lot Steven. Time will be the only healer." Garnet stated. She adjusted her shades. "But talking helps."

Steven nodded as he knew what he had to do. He started walking down the hill in the direction Lapis left in, thinking about where she ran off to. Maybe she went for a swim? Oh wait, she already went for one today. Maybe she went into town? No reason why she would, she's still not comfortable around humans. When he reached the bottom of the hill, he was about to head back to the house, assuming she went back there. However, he barely noticed someone sitting on the rocks. Lapis was sitting on a large boulder, staring up at the sky, breathing heavily.

Steven walked up and sat down next to Lapis, who didn't respond. Instead she quickly wiped away a stray tear. "Lapis, I know something's wrong. Did something happen? Is there anyway I can help?"

Lapis let out a long sigh. "No. Not unless you can change the past."

"Change the past…?"

Lapis shook her head, "Forget it."

"Forget what? You haven't told me anything! I want to know what's bothering you! It is me? Is it the gems? What is it?"

The blue gem looked away, and instead stared off at the ocean. Steven, still determined on getting an answer, sighed. "Who's Azurite?"

Lapis' head snapped back to Steven, "H-how do you know….?"

"You called me that name back before the water fight. Who is she? Another gem?"

Lapis didn't respond right away, and Steven continued to try getting an answer from her. "Is she a friend of yours?" he asked.

Lapis smiled sadly. "The best."

"What is she like? Is she a fun person?"

Lapis thought back fondly. "Yeah... I mean, she's shy, but when you get to know her she won't stop talking. Occasionally she'd say the funniest things. And I felt like could tell her anything. She's a great listener."

"She sounds awesome!" Steven smiled as he listened to Lapis' description. Lapis nodded, a frown returning to her face as she remembered flying towards that cluster during the battle. Seeing the slender, blue arm sticking out from one side. A big, light blue gem shard stuck on the side of the monsters fused gem…

"Are you sad because you two got into a fight or something?"

"No."

"Oh, is she on homeworld? Did you see her when you went back?"

"No."

"Wait- No she's not on homeworld, or no you didn't see her?"

"Both." Lapis started getting irritated with his probing questions.

"Well that's strange. She's got to be somewhere! Are you sad because you can't find her?"

"No, I-"

"Is she living on another planet? Are there other gem planets we don't know of?"

"No, of course not-"

"Then is she here on Earth?!"

"No, no, no! Steven, she's dead okay?!" Lapis snapped. She paused and looked away, taking a deep wavering breath in. "She's gone…"

Steven was put in a stunned silence. That explained a lot. "I-I don't understand…" he said quietly. "How did it happen?"

"I don't even know…" Lapis admitted. "W-we were both sent to Earth to help with the gem war. While I got my gem cracked and was trapped in that awful mirror, Azurite was fighting. I assume she… died in the fight." Lapis voice cracked as she said that last part. She started breathing heavily with anger, "And then Jasper had to take her gem and make it part of that stupid cluster! I saw with my own eyes Steven! My best friend's a... a monster." Before she could break down in front of the boy, she got up and started running back to the house.

Steven sat there shocked for a moment, before his other senses kicked. "Wait Lapis! I'm sorry! Lapis!" he called after her. But she was already so far ahead. Steven didn't follow her this time. She needed some space right now. But in truth, he didn't know how to help her. He'd never techniqually been through a loss like this. He didn't have his mom around, but that wasn't the same. He never even met her and he's always had the gems and his dad to take care of him. Maybe the gems would know how to help Lapis. Steven sighed sadly, and started walking back up the hill to join the others.

Lapis on the other hand didn't stop running until she made it back to the house. She ran up the steps, opened and slammed the door behind her. Breathing heavily, she slowly walked up to the bar stool next to the kitchen counter. She cried out and angrily shoved it, knocking it down, hoping it would relieve some of her rage. But it didn't. Nothing ever would. Lapis gave up and crumpled to the floor, crying her eyes out. With each heart wrenching sob she released, she kept thinking about the last time she saw her best friend…

* * *

" _Are you scared?" Azurite asked Lapis._

 _Lapis had a sword in one hand, practicing simple fencing moves, and Azurite sat in a chair. Neither of them knew when their next mission was. Currently, their only jobs were to spy on the rebellion, or fight. They had to be prepared for both._

" _Mm, not really. You?" Lapis replied._

" _I don't know. Kind of." Azurite admitted. "Why were we even chosen to help the fight?"_

" _Well you have all these crazy incredible powers like telekinesis, and technokinesis and whatnot, while I… can gently splash a gem with water?" She and Azurite laughed a little, and Azurite shook her head. "Hey give yourself credit. You can also win any game of water tag!"_

 _Lapis rolled her eyes and summoned a ball of water, throwing it at her friend. "Like that's going to help in battle!"_

 _The water missed Azurite by a few inches, splashing on the floor behind her. She laughed. "It could! You just need a water ball the size of a spaceship!"_

" _Unless we have a fight next to a beach, that's not happening." Lapis stated. They haven't joined in on any battles yet. They'd only been on Earth for a short time now, and so far things have been pretty quiet on the battle field. Which apparently was strange, according to some other gems. The rebellion may have been made up of only, well, rebels, but they knew how to fight strategically._

" _Hey have you visited the Kindergarten here yet?" Azurite asked._

" _You mean the place they're growing all the new gems? No, I haven't." Lapis replied putting away the sword._

" _You should see it! There are these huge injectors walking around everywhere, and there all these cute young gems running around! I saw this one short purple gem kick a rock in half the other day!"_

" _Kick a rock in half? Why?"_

" _I don't know. But she seemed to be having a fun time!" Azurite said smiling. Her smile faded as she thought of something. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"_

" _What do you mean?" Lapis asked, confused. She sat down in another chair across from her friend._

 _Azurite shrugged. "Well we're taking energy away from the Earth. Don't you think we're causing some damage? And what about humans? This is their home we're destroying..."_

" _Well… Yeah I guess. But if our kind wants to continue to exist, there needs to be more of us. Homeworld doesn't have the capacity to grow anymore gems, and Earth is the closest place that can. We're doing the best thing we can for us. That's all that matters."_

 _Azurite nodded. "Guess you're right. I still feel kind of bad about it though-"_

 _Suddenly they heard yelling and all sorts of chaos happening outside their temple. Another gem burst through the door panting. A friend of theirs named Kunzite. "Guys! The rebellion! They found this location! They're attacking!"_

* * *

Lapis raked a hand through her hair, refusing to think about the events that followed. It was her first battle ever, and she was poofed and trapped in a mirror in minutes! What kind of gem is she? Losing in record time like that... She wondered how long Azurite lasted. She had no idea back then that that would be the last time she ever saw Azurite. But she felt stupid for thinking otherwise. What, Azurite was just living happily on homeworld? Maybe wondering once in a while 'what ever happened to that Lapis gem'? That would be best case scenario.

Readjusting her position on the floor, she leaned against the kitchen counter, knees to her chest. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. How long had she been sitting here weeping? 10 minutes? 20 minutes? Felt even longer.

Suddenly, she heard the door open, and she let out a frustrated sigh. "Steven, I don't want to talk about-" she looked beside her and saw Garnet standing there. Lapis looked back down at the floor, wiping her eyes. "Steven told you, didn't he?"

"Mm." Garnet sounded with a nod. She didn't say anything as she silently went up to the gem door. Opening the door to her room, she went inside. Lapis watched carefully. Was she even here to talk? Or did she just want to grab something from her room? Lapis decided to stand up, and collect whatever dignity she had left. She just let the strong leader of the Crystal Gems see her at her worst. Great.

When Garnet finally walked out, she held a bubbled gem in one hand. Approaching Lapis, she held it up to her, letting the ocean gem see it. "Is this your friend's gem?"

Lapis inspected it. The large, curved and jagged, light blue gem shard levitated inside the bubble. It's the same piece she was so used to seeing on the back of her friend's right hand. Lapis became choked up again. "Y-yeah. That's hers…" Garnet then placed the bubbled gem into Lapis hand. Lapis looked at the bubble, then gave Garnet a questioning look.

"When Rose Quartz decided to give up her physical form, we were all in turmoil. It was hard dealing with her loss. But luckily, she left us with Steven. He filled the void that Rose left behind, because Steven himself is a piece of Rose. It's only fair that you get a piece of Azurite." Garnet explained.

Lapis looked at the gem in her hands again, at loss for words. "I-I just… Thank you, Garnet."

Garnet nodded. "Keep it safe. We'll find the rest of these gem shards soon. And we won't let Jasper, or anyone else do _anything_ like this again." she headed for the door, ready to join the group again at the picnic. "Feel free to join us again when you're ready." the tall gem added, and she left.

Lapis stood there silently, humbled by Garnet's generosity and trust to let her keep a gem shard. She inspected the gem inside, and she let out a mirthless laugh. "Who could've predicted you'd go down in such a blaze Azurite?" Lapis paused as if someone would answer, but of course no one did. Lapis sighed. "I'm so, so sorry Azzy. You were the last person in the universe who deserved this..." a few more tears escaped from Lapis eyes, and landed on the bubble.

Garnet walked back up on the hill of the lighthouse. Amethyst was sleeping in the sunlight after eating her sandwich, and was leaning on Lion. Connie was lying on her stomach reading a book, and Steven was plucking his ukulele. Pearl was sitting on the blanket, looking at the ocean when she heard Garnet approaching. "Garnet, is everything… okay?"

Garnet shrugged as she sat down on the blanket with them. "It will be. Just give it some time."

"Are you sure? Maybe one of us should-"

"Just give it time."

* * *

 **A/N: Aaand that was Azurite everybody! And again, I'd like to thank Floop'dThePiggy for helping with this chapter and letting me steal Azzy for the story! Well everyone, let us know how our dynamic duo did in this chap! And as always if you have any questions/comments/suggestions/ideas/jokes then please, do not be afraid to click that review button! I've been wondering where some of my reviewers went! :P Anyways, I'll see you in the next chapter! BYE!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: *comes out of hiding* Okay. I know. I suck. I could insert all my excuses here... But all my readers have another chapter to read! So go do that and please try to refrain from throwing virtual axes at me.**

* * *

Jasper put her leather whip down, tired. The fusion in front of her was backing away, screeching. Ugh, these ignorant creatures couldn't do anything! No fighting moves, no techniques, these things couldn't even punch! They just kicked, grabbed stuff and occasionally smacked a weapon out of your hand. Despite Jasper's best efforts, these things couldn't be trained. They could only be taught to obey the homeworld gem in battle. Which was great, but what's the point if they can't even win a battle against four pathetic Crystal Gems!?

Peridot had her log out once more, and looked up at the other bubbled gems they had stolen. They had used a good amount of gem shards in their fusions, but a lot of them still remained. Peridot kept careful track of how many they used and how many were left. They lost quite a few in their last battle. Darn those Crystal Gems! And those stupid clusters too! How are their gems so easily breakable?

Jasper let out a frustrated sigh. "This is ridiculous! How is our plan not working!?" Jasper turned to Peridot. "You're the expert on fusions here! Why didn't you see this coming?!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that fusions are terrible fighters? I barely know any more about the fusions than you do! If you ask me, you should just try and kill that Steven kid in his sleep again!" Peridot quipped back.

"I don't have time to waste _sleeping_! We need results, and soon. I can't get the rest of those Crystal Gems if I'm off in _dreamland_ now can I?"

Peridot rolled her eyes. "It was just a suggestion! What ideas have you come up with? Oh that's right- none!"

"Like you're a big help!" Jasper snarled. She looked back up at the cluster. It was one of three they had so far. All the other ones were destroyed in battle, so now they had to wait a few more weeks for more clusters to hatch. Jasper shook her head. "This is going to take too long. Sooner or later they're going to find us."

"Well I don't see how we can do anything other than wait! We have no army, and there's no way we're going to take on four gems at once! We'd get destroyed!"

"Yeah, because you can't fight if your life depended on it!"

"Yes I can!"

"You got tied up in the purple one's whip! Twice!"

Peridot grumbled. It was actually three times. Jasper wasn't there when she got tied up the first time back in their ship. "Well look who's talking! You went up against that tall gem twice now! She even looked about ready to pass out from exhaustion that last fight! Her defeat was practically gift-wrapped for you and you still lost!"

Jasper picked up the leather whip again, angered. "I only lost because she's a _fusion_!" Jasper then tried lashing out at Peridot, but the green gem ducked out of the way. Jasper's whip instead hit one of the bubbled gems, popping it.

A big red gem fell to the ground with a clank, and it suddenly started glowing. Jasper and Peridot watched wide-eyed as this gem started growing, returning to it's original form. Soon, a huge, one eyed crab roared back to life, flailing it's claws.

Jasper and Peridot gaped at the creature in front of them. Jasper slowly approached it, careful not to provoke it. She reached down and grabbed the whip off the floor, as the crab roared again and backed away. Jasper smiled wickedly. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked Peridot.

"That we should destroy this thing before it kills us?" Peridot asked, worried about the size of the monster in front of them.

"No! Are you crazy?! Look at this thing! It's massive! If we could train this thing, we could use it to attack the Crystal Gems!"

"But who knows if it's even trainable? Like you said, it's big enough to destroy gems! Gems like us!"

"Please! This is nothing! If the Crystal Gems could bubble it then how hard can it be to train it?"

"There's another point!" Peridot argued. "If they could slay this gem monster once already, who's to say they can't do it again? They know how to fight these things!"

Jasper didn't respond, knowing she was right. She glanced up at the other gem bubbles, noticing all the whole gems there were. Could they also be corrupted? Would they turn into giant monsters too? Jasper smirked, "What would you say are the odds that the Crystal Gems only collected these _one at a time_?"

Peridot huffed, "I'd say the odds are very high. What's your point?"

Jasper grabbed a bubble. Inside was a round, green gem with a design in black lines. It almost looked like an eye. "My point is, what are the odds that the Crystal Gems can't fight a bunch of gem monsters at once?"

Peridot's eyes widened as she realized what Jasper was thinking. "No, no, no! It's too risky! Look, if we're worried about time let's just try something else! Like maybe find a way to repair the universal warp pad, or try to communicate with Yellow Diamond!"

"We want to take over the earth, not get off of it!" Jasper yelled.

"Speak for yourself. Soon there won't be an Earth to save! Remember the cluster?" Peridot grumbled. Jasper looked at all the gems they had, and their new giant crab. "You said the cluster _could_ hatch at any second. But who's to say it's going to hatch at all? It could even be years before it decides to crawl out of the Earth's core." Peridot turned away. Jasper had a point. No one's ever experimented with such a big fusion before. "This is how we're going to take them down. This is how we're going to win!"

"You said that last time! And look how well that turned out! I say we just abandon this and try to go home!"

"I don't care what you say!" Jasper barked. "Have you forgotten that you're orders are to do as I tell you to!? Now you're either in this with me, or you're not. Which is it?"

Peridot paused for a moment, debating on what she should do. Of course, she was more of the brains in this relationship. She could easily leave by fixing the warp pads, or finding some old gem-tech and make it work again. However if she ever encountered the Crystal Gems without Jasper, she could easily get tied up… again. Peridot sighed. "I'm in."

"Good." Jasper smiled devilishly. She knew Peridot wouldn't leave. She's a weak link. Jasper's attention was pulled away from her partner when the crab thundered with another roar. Jasper started whipping at it to shut it up. It continued backing away, avoiding the weapon. Jasper smirked. Get ready Crystal Gems. You're not getting away so easily.

Steven ran up to Beach Citywalk Fries. Peedee was up at the counter, cleaning it with a rag. The the young boy approached the counter and smiled expectantly. Peedee rolled his eyes, "One order of frybits, coming up."

"Thanks Peedee!" Steven said, as Peedee went back to the fryer. Ronaldo was in the background, typing away on his phone. Obviously not doing his job. "Hey Ronaldo!" Steven greeted. The older Fryman looked up and saw the boy standing at the window. "Hey Steven! What's up?"

"Just getting some Frybits!" Steven said happily, as he put money on the counter. Peedee returned with a greasy bag with the fryman logo on it. Taking Steven's money, he opened the cash register. "Hey what happened to your arm?" Peedee asked.

Steven knew what he was referring to. That morning he had found a large black and blue bruise on his forearm. He wasn't completely sure where he got it from, so he decided to lie again. "Oh, you know. More Gem stuff! But don't worry, it's fine!"

Ronaldo walked up to the counter and got a good look at Steven's arm. He gasped and grabbed the boy's arm, tugging it. "Hey! What are you-"

Steven was interrupted when Ronaldo asked, "This looks pretty serious. You didn't happen to encounter a Snake Person on your gem quest, did you?"

"What? No, no! Really I'm fine. It doesn't even- Ow!" Steven cried as Ronaldo started poking and prodding the bruise. "Aha! It was right! This is the classic mark of a Snerson!" The teenager turned Steven's arm over, and they all could see that the bruise resembled something that looked like a hand. Ronaldo started taking photos of the arm with his phone, and Steven started feeling very uncomfortable. Peedee finally decided to step in. "Ronaldo, I don't mean to bash your snake people-"

"Sneeple, Peedee. They're called Sneeple."

Peedee huffed. "I don't mean to bash your _Sneeple_ theory, but Steven's injury is just a coincidence."

Steven laughed nervously as he pulled his arm away. "Y-yeah! This was just an accident. Sneeple free!"

"That's what they want you to think! That's what they want us all to think! They're trying to brainwash us all! And it's up to me to reveal the truth! I gotta go post this on my blog!" Ronaldo then ran into another room, phone in hand. Peedee sighed as he handed Steven his change. "Sorry about that. You know how Ronaldo gets."

"Heh. Yeah. Thinking this was a handprint. Crazy." Steven looked at the bruise uncertainly before taking the fry bag. "Thanks for the bits Peedee! I'll see ya later!"

"Bye!" Peedee called as Steven made his quick escape. He was glad he didn't have to discuss his arm anymore. He didn't really know where it came from. But he suspected something. Lately, his nightmares continued on. Last night, Jasper almost got him again. She grabbed his arm really tight to prevent him from getting away. She was about to kill him before he woke up, just in time. The gems also freaked out when they saw the bruise, but Steven played it off and explained he tripped and landed on it or something. Which they all bought. Amethyst was even giving him a hard time about it, saying he was clumsy.

Amethyst was waiting for him at the end of the boardwalk. She couldn't pass up an opportunity to eat fry bits with him. Steven knew she'd be suspicious about why it took a while to buy fry bits. And he was right. When he approached her, she huffed. "Dude, what took you so long?" she asked.

"Sorry! Ronaldo started talking about snake people and stuff." Steven quickly explained, opening the fry bag. Amethyst reached in and grabbed a hand full of bits, munching on them. "Oh yeah. That dude's weird."

"I think to him it's a compliment!" Steven laughed, as he also started eating.

They both started walking back to the house, as Steven noticed a blue figure standing up on the cliff near the lighthouse. Lapis. It had been another week since he first found out about Azurite, and she'd been getting slightly better, but still wasn't herself. She's been smiling more, and she's become less distant, but she was still… off. Steven's been wanting to talk to her, but he felt bad about making her angry the day of the picnic. What if she was mad at him specifically? He was the one who asked all those probing personal questions about her best friend, and he even told the Crystal Gems about it. It wasn't his place to tell them what happened. What if she was angry at him for it? She hadn't really talked to him since that day. She never said anymore than a few sentences to him. Was that on purpose? He couldn't tell.

"Do you think Lapis is okay?" Steven asked Amethyst. She was in the middle of chewing a mouthful of bits. "Probably." she said with her mouth full. She swallowed. "Why?"

"She still just seems so… sad." Steven observed, looking up at her on the cliff.

"These kinds of things take time. She'll come around." Amethyst said. Steven sighed. "Yeah…" He still felt like he should go apologize though. He handed Amethyst the rest of the fry bits. "I'll be right back."

"Kay!" Amethyst smiled as she walked back to the house. She got all the fries to herself! Steven on the other hand started walking up the hill again, thinking about what he should say to the ocean gem.

Lapis leaned against the fence that encircled the cliff, looking out on the horizon. The sun was out, and the water looked so clear. Occasionally, she'd even see a dolphin pop out of the water and dive back in. She assumed they were starting their migration around this time of year. She smiled slightly. Azurite would've loved seeing this. She thought all of the creatures on Earth were amazing, mostly because they didn't have anything like this back on homeworld. Just gems. Lapis wondered about all the things they could've done. What if they weren't attacked that day? Or what if they both made it out of that fight? Would they have explored more of the Earth together? Lapis had been on this planet for so long, and yet she'd never seen any of it besides Beach City and wherever the gems took her. It would've been nice if she could've seen it with her friend.

"Lapis!"

Lapis turned and saw Steven walking up to her. "Oh, hey Steven." She greeted.

"What'cha doin?" Steven asked.

"Nothing really." Lapis admitted. "Just looking."

"Oh, nice…" Steven replied. There was a small awkward silence between the two. Lapis just wanted to know what he was doing here. Steven cleared his throat. "So, how have you been?"

Lapis shrugged. "I've been better." What's up with the small talk?

"Lapis, I'm… I'm sorry."

She frowned. Was he talking about Azurite? Or something else entirely? He didn't have to apologize for anything. "What for?" she asked.

"I shouldn't have bothered you so much last week. I just wanted to know what was wrong, and if I could make you feel better. And I'm sorry I told the gems about it. It was none of my business. You have every right to be mad at me." Steven apologized miserably.

"Steven, you didn't do anything wrong! It's just… It's just me. I don't want you to think I'm mad at you, because I'm not. I'm just..." Lapis sighed. "I should be the one apologizing to you. It was wrong of me to yell at you back then. You didn't deserve it, you were trying to help. You were only trying to get answers I wasn't willing to give."

"Exactly! I should've understood that you needed some space. But of course, little Steven Universe can't take a hint."

Lapis smiled. "Wanna just call it a truce?"

Steven sighed in relief, smiling back. "Truce."

Lapis ruffled his hair, and looked back out at the ocean. She loved how even the waves were. How gentle and calming their crashing sounds were. She loved the water, and not just because she was an ocean gem. Because really, who couldn't love the beach?

"Um, Lapis?"

"Hm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what's it like?"

Lapis looked back at the boy, confused. "What's what like?"

"Losing someone you're close to."

This surprised Lapis. "I thought you'd know. You lost your mother, didn't you?"

Steven shrugged. "Yeah, but I never even got to meet her. It's different. You and Azurite were really close."

"Yeah. We were." Lapis closed her eyes. "I guess… When you lose someone, a part of you feels missing. Like something inside you died along with that person."

"...Really?" Steven asked.

"Yeah." Lapis confirmed. "All you want to do is go back. Back to a time where you could've prevented their death, or back to a time where you could say goodbye… Or even just to a time where you were together. But you can't. And all you can do is grieve."

"Is grief.. painful?"

Lapis stared off into the water, getting an idea on how to explain this to a child. "Grief tends to come in waves. In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and... float. After a while, weeks, maybe months, the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. A picture, a weapon, a gem. It can be just about anything… and the wave comes crashing."

Steven suddenly felt extremely guilty. She sounds so sad. Is that how the gems felt when his mom died? Was it because of him that they felt this way? He suddenly wished he could take their sadness away for himself. He'd rather have to experience the pain first hand rather than his family. He asked, "Does it get any easier?"

"It has to. Every storm's got to end, and every wave's going to get smaller. It takes time Steven. Although I can't say if the waves will ever stop, I do know that you'll always come out the other end alive." Lapis explained. "Does that help?"

"Yeah. It does." Steven said. He felt so bad that Lapis, the gems, and even his dad had to go through something like this. He sighed. "I'd better head back. The gems are probably wondering where I am."

"Okay. I'll be heading back down soon." Lapis confirmed.

"Okay. Later."

"Bye."

As Steven headed back down the hill, he processed everything Lapis had told him. Grief was like waves, huh? He wondered how often the gems felt waves from his mom. " _You never know what's going to trigger the grief. A song, a picture, a weapon, a gem. It can be just about anything."_ He remembered Pearl breaking down after seeing his mom's sword. She must've experienced one huge wave from that. Amethyst even got choked up that same day. " _You're not the only one who misses her!"_ No. It seemed like Steven was the only one who didn't. But he couldn't really. He never met her. His only encounter with her was through a small twelve inch TV screen.

" _Take care of them Steven."_ she had said. He only wished he knew how. And now as looked back on it, he's been doing a bad job of doing so. The gems would probably prefer having Rose still alive instead of him. Things probably would've ended up better that way…

Steven made it to the front of the house. Seeing the time of day, he still had plenty of time to kill! Well, nothing like a good round of video games can't hurt.

Walking up the stairs, he quickly spotted Garnet leaving the house, looking left and right before she spotted the boy. "Ah, Steven. Get inside. We'll be going a mission."

It was only a few days ago that they were on their little vacation, having a good time in the picnic. Now they had another mission? Well, he could understand. It was their job after all.

"Awh... Alright. But you guys be safe, okay?" Steven sighed to Garnet.

"You're coming with us. Pearl and Amethyst will tell you all about it." Garnet simply said to Steven. "I'll just go fetch Lapis..." And with one mighty jump, she got to the top of the hill.

Wait... what? They're going to have a fight together again?! Yes! The Crystal Gems were going on another adventure!

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 **A/N: Sorry! That's going to be it for this chapter! *Ducks away from virtual axe* Okay okay! I promise the next one wont take months and months to post! In fact, it's already written! I just have to edit! But in the mean time, sit tight, and I'll be back before you can say "porkchop." Anyway, if you have any comments/questions/suggestions/ideas/jokes you'd like to share with me, PLEASE don't be afraid to hit that review button! I wanna make sure I didn't lose all my readers, but I'd understand if I did. Once again, sorry, but I'll see you in the next chapter. SOON. PEACE**


	19. Chapter 19

**Steven slammed open the front door "Ohhhh myyyy GOSH! I'm so excited! What are we doing on this mission?" he asked excitedly, hopping on the couch next to Pearl.**

"I assume Garnet already told you the news." Pearl chuckled. "Here, I'll show you." Pearl's gem glowed and revealed a hologram of a huge creature, hovering just above the coffee table.

Steven's eyes went starry as he took a closer look at the beast. Obviously, the beast was shrunken down to a size that would be observable on the table, but its body features did imply its high defenses.

The platings on it were colored white, and Steven can easily imagine that the plates were as strong as the temple door! It had an odd flat chin that fanned out, and the hologram began to move in place, where it stood on its hind legs and seemed to have roared!

"Pretty cool right?" commented Amethyst from the temple door.

"There you are! Where were you? I called you 10 minutes ago!" cried Pearl, annoyed.

"Chillax P, I went to go rearrange some junk." Amethyst plopped down on the floor next to Steven with a shrug.

Pearl groaned thinking of that messy room, as Steven kept staring at the hologram in awe.

"It's so cute!" Steven laughed.

Pearl gave him an odd look. "I wouldn't call it cute..."

"Yeah. It's pretty ugly." Amethyst commented.

"But it looks pretty adorable! Like a play-friend that Lion could have!" He laughed.

"Steven, focus. The beast before you is a serious threat when engaged. So far, all we know is this… _thing_ is equipped with powerful ice attacks! It's blades and armor make it near impossible to attack from any angle, so we're not sure how to defeat it. But perhaps the more people that are around it fighting, the less likely the one person will be targeted, and we can figure out a strategy to detain it."

"Yeah, we'll poof it as quickly as we came. No problemo." Amethyst remarked.

"Cool… But what _is_ it? I've never seen anything like this before!" Steven said. Most animals they had fought were a similar resemblance to regular Earth animals. The Giant bird, Centipeetle, Giant crab… but this didn't look like anything.

"Well we don't know. Thinking of no better name to call it, we nicknamed it Ukan-"

"Ahem. Spiky Ice Monster." Amethyst corrected.

"...Spiky Ice Monster..." Pearl growled.

"Whoa! So then I'll be going with you guys?!"

"That's right!" Pearl said with a nod.

"Woohoo! Ready for the mission little man?!" Amethyst cheered to Steven. "Yeah!" Steven happily cried out.

"That spiky ice monster has no chance against The Crystal Gems!" Steven said triumphantly standing up.

"And Lapis and Connie." Pearl added.

"And Lapis and Connie! …" Steven stopped as he processed Pearl's words. "Wait, Connie's coming too!?"

* * *

The mid-day light was steadily covered by dark clouds, and a shadow had been cast over the land and gems. A light, cold breeze flew right past the team, like swift slap to the face. Steven and Connie were all bundled up and holding hands as they braved through the storm.

"So, this is your first real mission… You nervous?" Steven asked Connie.

"A little. But I've seen you and the gems fight monsters before. I'm sure it will be fine." Connie said confidently, as another chilling breeze passed them. "I knew it was a spiky ice monster, but I didn't think it would be able to cause a snow storm…" Steven said shivering.

"Aren't the gems cold?" Connie asked.

"Nah I don't think so. They're like, magical and stuff. They aren't really affected by weather."

Garnet looked dead ahead, and called, "Alright. We're approaching the Communication Hub! Pearl, Amethyst, and Connie, take its legs and underbelly, Lapis, Steven and I will take it head on." Each gem nodded, and continued forward.

The snowfall began to get thicker, and the snow only got deeper. The gems slowed down, their feet were slowly sinking into the snow, almost like quicksand. Although Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Lapis were hardly bothered by the obstacle, Steven and Connie were practically Lion Lickers by this point. It made it even harder for Connie as she was carrying a duffle bag with her swords Pearl had given her. It was heavier than it looked. The two kid's movements were slow and sluggish, their bodies and hoods began to carry more snow than the ground itself. Both had snow caught in their hair and eyelashes, along with on their coats. It was almost to the point that the snow became like weights on their back. The thick snowfall obstructed their vision, and the light that the tower had shone in the darkness was completely gone. It was like it vanished.

"Weather's starting to get a little funky now!" Amethyst yelled before she tripped and fell face first into the snow.

"We must be getting closer to the creature. Everyone stay close!" Garnet commanded. Amethyst stood up and shook the snow off of her. "Ugh, it just _had_ to be an ice monster."

"H-hey i-i-i-it c-c-could be w-w-worse! Ins-s-s-stead this could be a… L-l-l-ava m-m-monster?" Steven said optimistically, teeth chattering.

Suddenly, a dark shadow was seen ahead. It let out a mighty roar and the snow and wind became stronger and colder. The group recoiled at the sudden gust of wind and snow. The monster must've sensed their presence, as the shadow was heading right for them. Pearl, Lapis and Steven looked at each other and stood tall against the towering figure, while Garnet and Connie ran to its left flank, with Amethyst running to its right side.

"This is it. Ready?" Garnet asked.

"Ready!" Called Steven and Connie.

"Ready! Let's do this!" Amethyst shouted.

"Why was I invited to do this?!" Lapis cried, but was ignored as the gems prepared for battle.

"Lapis! Get behind me!" Steven shouted, and brought out his shield into its largest form. Lapis dived down to Steven's back, and stared at the beast with cold eyes.

The figure slowly began to grow taller, and its head began to stick out like a sore thumb.

"What's it-" Before Pearl could finish her sentence, a roar split the silence of voices, and the three gems had the absolute urge to cover their ears from the loud noise. They shut their eyes, they ducked down towards the ground, and the moments after the deafening roar they saw it was in a defensive stance.

Pearl aimed her spear directly at the monsters front leg, hoping to injure and immobilize it. Instead her weapon was deflected by it's strong armor, and was headed right at Amethyst.

"Amethyst! Watch out!"

"What?" Amethyst turned with barely enough time to duck. Luckily the spear missed her by a hair and landed in the snow.

"Well that didn't work!" Connie said, anxiously. Steven looked over his shoulder at Lapis. "Lapis, do you think you could try distracting it by flying around?"

"What?! My wings could freeze!" Lapis replied.

"You won't need to fly long. Just try!"

Lapis took a deep breath and summoned her wings. Maybe if she kept them moving they wouldn't harden… hopefully. She flew up into the bitter cold air. She did loops, circles, and sudden dives, all the keep the monster occupied. "Why do I always get _this_ kind of job?" She muttered to herself.

Seeing the beast distracted, Amethyst had summoned two of her whips. She used them to tie up the monsters front legs, trying to immobilize him. Garnet, with both her gauntlets out, jumped and punched the monster as hard as she could head on. A booming roar was released, and the monster struggled to free itself from Amethysts whips, to no avail. Garnet was ricocheted back to the ground by the creature. Luckily snow had cushioned her fall.

Connie did her best at trying to help. She was slicing a leg with her sword, but the monsters armor was too strong. Steven was beside her, shield ready. "This isn't working!" Steven cried.

"I know. What should we do?" Connie asked him. Steven stopped to think for a minute. _What would lonely blade do?_

Lapis kept trying to occupy the spiky ice monster's attention, however she felt her wings start to fail. They were slowly but surely starting to freeze. Trying to keep calm, she started moving them faster, which seemed to freeze them faster. Lapis faltered, flying crooked like a moth. It almost looked as if she had a broken wing. It wasn't long before she crash landed in the snow.

"Guys I don't know how much longer I can keep this thing!" Amethyst shouted in panic. Pearl looked over and dropped her spear, running over to help Amethyst. Despite both their best efforts, the whips snapped in half, releasing the monster. It boomed another deafening roar, and created a strong vortex of snow. All the gems could do is shield their eyes. The snow started feeling like tiny bullets hitting their faces. Suddenly, it stopped.

Steven disabled his shield, and opened up his eyes, seeing the heavy curtains of snow finally gone, only to find himself in a crystalline winter wonderland.

The air that surrounded him was so crisp and clear with some occasional snowflake dropping by his eye. The snow beneath his feet felt so crunchy, that it was like crushing potato chips beneath him. He looked all around, and gazed up to the sky, only to see the sun as a bright moon, covered by the clouds above. The environment around him seemed to have changed significantly as well, more than because of the snow! Stepping forward, he could feel the change of a crunchy snow to a solid, and slippery floor of ice, almost like a platform.

Steven was in awe, and he had a grin across his face, end to end! "Whoa…" His eyes grew stars, and it glinted in the light of the sun, and he mesmerized by his surroundings. "What happened?" Lapis asked, nearing the ice platform.

Pearl's voice rung through the silence of the area. "Where did it... where did it go?!" She had each and every reason to be afraid now. The corrupt gem disappeared, even when they were right in front of it!

"I don't know! But it left this cool ice rink!" Steven yelled, trying to walk forward, but slipping. Amethyst muffled a laugh.

"We didn't defeat it yet… Did we?" Connie asked Garnet tentatively.

Garnet adjusted her shades. "No, we didn't."

Amethyst approached, and examined the platform of ice that was left behind. "Cool. Now we have a place for ice skating!" She stepped on it, but immediately fell from the slipperiness. Steven chuckled slightly, helping her up. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Just then, Garnet had sensed something. "Lapis! Steven! Amethyst!" Garnet shouted from a fair distance away. "Get away from that ice!"

There wasn't any difficulty with the gems hearing out Garnet's orders, but it took them more than a few seconds to react at the urgency and harshness of her words.

The ground beneath them began to shake, and massive chunks of ice burst out from the ground, and a small spear-like tip began to emerge from the center of the crack.

The three had only so little time to have react. The monster had created the platform as a trap! Who knew spiky ice monsters knew something about strategy? Lapis tried re-summoning chilled wings and grabbed Steven and Amethyst at the last second. She easily flown her teammates out of the danger zone, and all the way beside the rest of the group.

Once Steven had landed down with a brief thud, he would be greeted with a brief hug by Connie. She cried out, and finally gave a sigh of relief. "Oh gosh, Steven. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…" he replied distracted by the monster. He examined the monster, and his eyes lit up as he had a thought. "Connie, Lonely Blade 3!"

Connie blinked. "What?"

"Lonely Blade 3! The movie?"

Connie shook her head. "Steven you know I don't watch japanese martial art movies."

"You should because they're awesome, but that's not the point. In the third movie, Lonely Blade and his brother were able to defeat this dragon warrior guy, with a surprise attack from behind! It was so cool!"

"But how are we-" Connie's eyes opened wide and looked at the beast again. There wasn't any plating on the monster's neck. A weak spot. "Steven are you sure?"

"We have to try!" Connie hesitated, but nodded. She grabbed her sword and pulled Lapis with her. "Lapis you have to help me!"

"What for?" Lapis asked confused as she was being dragged away.

"Wait what are you-" Amethyst started to ask as Connie and Lapis started running away. However she was interrupted by a panicked Pearl. "Steven!"

The beast had stood proudly, it's sharp, shovel-like chin was mere inches away from Steven. No one noticed Steven when he approached the monster. He looked up at the beast, and smiled softly, and slowly took steps forward, his hand extended out.

"Steven! No!" Pearl and Amethyst yelled together. Garnet put a hand on Pearl's shoulder to keep her from interfering. "Wait." she ordered.

The monster growled, and puffed out breaths of ice, and Steven called back to the gems, "Don't worry."

He steadily placed his hand down on the corrupted gem. "Hey buddy! Want some chiiiiips?" He chuckled softly, as he slowly rubbed the monster's ironhide.

It felt odd. It had small tufts of hair on its face, and the tough carapace it had looked like stone, but felt cold and metallic. Steven smiled softly, and ripped open the bag, before tossing in the entire bag into the mouth.

The gems all stared in silence and horror. Even past Garnet's glasses, her expression was filled with worry and dread. She saw so many possibilities of what might happen, but she couldn't figure out which vision was most likely to happen. However, Steven seemed to have the beast calmed and under controll. Perhaps like Lion, he can charm it into cooperating with the Gems.

The beast had suddenly puffed its breath out, and an icy blast of snow struck Steven's face. He shuddered in his place, and wiped off the snow in his face, before patting it one last time, "That's it bud, eat aaaaall the chips!"

Just as he was about positive the icy white gem was friendly, its docile vibe it emitted seemed to have turned around. It roared again. For some reason it stopped trusting Steven's kindness and good nature. The three gems panicked. "Steven!" They all shouted, scared. Steven recoiled slightly, but yelled, "Connie, now!"

Connie came swooping in with Lapis. Connie had her sword in hard and swiftly stabbed the sword into the back of the spiky ice monster's neck. With one final roar, and a huge gust of snowy wind, the monster poofed.

The snow cleared, and Lapis gently dropped Connie back on the ground. Steven picked up the large gem and bubbled it, sending it back to the temple. Pearl immediately ran up and hugged Steven tightly. "Are you alright? It didn't hurt you did it?"

"I'm fine Pearl. Don't worry." Steven chuckled. Once Pearl released him, Connie hugged him. "We did it! I can't believe that worked!"

"I know, right?" Steven agreed. Amethyst joined the two. "That was awesome! Steven was like 'Chiiips?.' Then the monster was like 'Roar!' But then Connie was like 'Die!' And it was so cool!"

Garnet smirked and ruffled Steven's hair. "I knew you could do it."

Pearl put a hand on Connie's shoulder, "That was very well done. Your first mission was a success." Pearl praised.

Connie blushed. "Well it was Steven's idea. And I wouldn't have been able to do it without Lapis." Pearl looked over at Lapis, smiling at the group off to the side. "Thanks Lapis. You did great." Pearl complimented with a small smile. Lapis smiled back. "It's nothing."

"You were so cool!" Steven said, hugging her.

"Yeah! I wish I had wings so I could fly like you!" Amethyst commented.

"Can't you just shape-shift your own?" Connie asked as they all started walking back to the warp pad. The purple gem shrugged. "Yeah, but not ones made of water! How does that even work?" They all stepped onto the warp pad and went home, excitedly talking about their first successful battle in a long time.

The afternoon sun started melting the snow very quickly. Jasper and Peridot stepped out from behind the Communication Hub, where they had been watching the whole thing. Peridot stepped lightly over the fleshly made slush on the ground in both wonder and disgust. "I'm still not seeing the point in this. They defeated another monster. So what?"

"This was the first of many we're sending their way." Jasper replied. "Eventually, they'll run themselves down too much, and be defeated by one of these things! Then they'll be ours."

"This is a bad idea. We should just go. The Communication Hub is right here! Let's call for help. Yellow Diamond could take care of this! This isn't any concern of ours!"

"It's our concern when those Gems are the ones breaking machines, crashing ships, and saving this miserable planet! We're taking them out before they can do anymore _good._ "

"But the cluster should take care of them anyway! No one can survive when it hatches! We should get away while we still can!" Peridot argued.

"The quartz boy has to take priority. We need to bring him back to homeworld!"

"Fine. And the others?" Peridot asked.

"They will be broken. We have no use for a weak Pearl, a quartz soldier, or a useless fusion. Lapis will also be broken for her betrayal to homeworld." Jasper said with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes. "And as for that human girl, whoever she is, she'll just have to be killed too." Peridots eyes widened. "Why should we kill her? She's of no importance!"

"If she's of no importance, then you shouldn't care what happened to her. Honestly Peridot, sometimes I think you're starting to go soft!" Jasper turned on her heel and started walking away. Peridot sighed and followed. Hopefully that human won't get involved in anymore battles...


End file.
